A growing number of young people are turning to artificial intelligence for mental health advice, and a new study suggests the trend is already widespread, finding that one in five have used the technology for some form of emotional support. To make sense of what that means for families, FOX 26 Houston spoke with Dr. Jeff Temple of UT Health Houston, who said the rise of AI as a confidant is something parents and teachers can no longer afford to ignore.
Asked whether AI can be a healthy part of a mental wellness toolkit or a slippery slope, Temple said it is, in fact, both. He acknowledged that many viewers might be surprised to hear a clinician say it, but he argued the appeal is easy to understand. Young people and adults alike, he said, are facing unprecedented levels of loneliness, anxiety and social isolation, and a chatbot is available to them around the clock, seven days a week.
Part of what makes the technology so tempting, according to Temple, is that it never judges, never gets tired and almost always responds immediately and usually positively. That constant availability can make it easier to open up to a chatbot than to a person. The convenience, he said, is exactly what can pull someone toward a screen instead of a friend, a relative or a professional at the moment they are struggling the most.
The real worry, Temple stressed, begins when AI stops being a supplement and starts becoming a substitute. He said the concern is when the technology begins to replace people, replace relationships and replace the professional support that experts know is critical for genuine mental health. If the tool helps a person connect with others, that is one thing, he noted, but if it replaces those people, that is when he becomes concerned.
He pointed to several red flags that should give families pause. The first is consulting AI instead of a trusted person, especially when the chatbot becomes someone's first go-to. Another is spending more time discussing problems with the bot than with a real person, and a third is beginning to treat AI as a primary source of emotional support rather than as one tool among many that a person can lean on.
Temple was careful not to dismiss the technology entirely, noting that many chatbot models are good at offering advice and helping people work through problems. The key, he said, is treating AI as a starting point, something that can suggest what to talk about before or after a conversation with a real person. He added that the research on all of this is still thin and that more science is needed to understand exactly what is going on.
For parents and teachers, his advice was not to panic. Rather than over policing the technology or banning it outright, he urged adults to be curious instead of critical, comparing the anxiety around AI to past worries over the telephone, the internet, smartphones and even the arrival of the car. He suggested asking children why they use AI, what they find helpful and who they would turn to with a truly serious problem, questions he said can reveal what is really driving the need to talk to a chatbot.