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Around 1 in 5 young people use AI chatbots for mental health advice, survey finds (www.nbcnews.com)

submitted 1 day ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/health@lemmy.world

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Experts worry that some young people are turning to AI bots during mental health crises, which the tech isn’t made to handle. An author of the survey said regulations are needed.

Nearly 1 in 5 adolescents and young adults are turning to AI chatbots for advice when they’re sad, angry, nervous or stressed, according to a new study.

The findings, from the research institute RAND, represent an increase from early 2025, when the nonprofit conducted a similar survey. At the time, around 13% of respondents said they used chatbots for such advice, but the share rose to 19% in the group’s latest survey in November, the results of which were published Monday in the journal JAMA Pediatrics.

“It’s a sad number, because you’d hope that young people would have the sorts of supportive relationships that they would feel comfortable and empowered reaching out to those around them,” said Ryan McBain, a senior policy researcher at RAND and the lead author of the study.

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[–] petrol_sniff_king@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 4 hours ago

Just to add something: most people don't need or benefit from an AI therapy service like this, so even if we accept that such a service is necessary for some people, you would never, ever, ever want this service to be popular.

If it's popular, then it's being used by people who don't need it. If people are using it when they don't need it, then we're engendering a kind of asocial, learned helplessness into them that is really, really destructive to society long term.

At best, I would want this to strictly be on a case by case basis.

Would you rather that chatbot handle things with care?

This is just an informed personal opinion, but I don't think it's possible for an LLM to do this.

Truly, I think Eliza would be better because Eliza doesn't give advice.