Talk, Trust, and Trade-Offs: How and Why Teens Use AI Companions
Common Sense Media examines how teenagers are using AI companions for conversation, support and personal disclosure, and what those patterns may mean for trust, relationships and healthy development.
AI companions are becoming part of the social environment in which teenagers are growing up. This Common Sense Media research looks beyond whether teens use AI and examines how they are using AI companions, what they trust them with, and where those interactions may begin to compete with human relationships.
The 2025 national survey found that 72% of teens ages 13–17 had used an AI companion at least once, while 52% were regular users. About one-third of teen users reported choosing an AI companion instead of a real person for an important or serious conversation. Common Sense Media
The findings deserve attention from parents, educators, counsellors, and others who work with young people. The concern is not simply that teenagers are using new technology. It is that some are using AI for companionship, emotional support, personal disclosure, and conversations that would traditionally occur within human relationships.
We recommend this report because it provides useful evidence for a larger conversation about AI literacy, emotional development, trust, privacy, relationships, and the role adults need to play as AI becomes increasingly embedded in young people’s lives.
Source: Common Sense Media, July 16, 2025. Common Sense Media
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