Capitol Hill briefing spotlights AI's concerning, growing role in teen mental health - fox23.com

Capitol Hill briefing spotlights AI's concerning, growing role in teen mental health

(TNND) — Washington policymakers, youth advocates and mental health leaders gathered this week on Capitol Hill to discuss new research that adds to the growing chorus of concerns over teenagers' use of artificial intelligence.

The briefing focused on preliminary results from research by The Jed Foundation (JED), a youth mental health organization.

JED found that 4 in 5 students use some type of AI.

More than half of students use AI for academics.

Nearly a third of students use AI for relationship or problem-solving advice.

More than 1 in 10 talk to AI for companionship.

High school students and rural students are more likely to use AI overall. But middle school students and urban students are more likely to use AI specifically when they were sad, stressed or lonely.

Kayla Anderson, JED’s vice president of research and evaluation, said there's little doubt that teens are using AI. The key questions going forward will be how often, for what purposes, and how it makes them feel.

JED surveyed 5,500 middle and high school students between last fall and this spring.

And the headline figure of 80% usage tracks with other recently published research, Anderson said.

“But something that's new from our data collection is that nearly three in five middle and high school students ... are using AI when they feel sad, stressed or lonely,” she said.

JED researchers found that teens who turn to AI for emotional support, companionship or advice on personal problems tend to report higher levels of anxiety, depression and loneliness, as well as more frequent histories of suicidal thoughts and behaviors.

Anderson cautioned that the study found an association, not causation, between worse mental health and kids who use AI for things like emotional support. But she said the findings still point to a need for human connection and guardrails on the technology.

Zainab Okolo, JED’s senior vice president of policy, advocacy and government relations, said kids are still wired for connection. And she said that AI shouldn’t take the place of in-person interactions with peers and trusted adults.

“And making sure that that does not become a robbed experience as a part of their essential development, just from like a clinical perspective, I think is really important,” Okolo said.

Previous research from Common Sense Media similarly found that 86% of kids have used generative AI tools, such as ChatGPT and Google's Gemini. Nearly a quarter of the kids surveyed by Common Sense Media said they use AI every day.

Common Sense Media, which recently launched a Youth AI Safety Institute, has also flagged concerns over educational and emotional impacts of AI on young people.

Common Sense Media Founder and CEO Jim Steyer told The National News Desk last month that chatbots are dangerously sycophantic.

“And by the way, they also feed you misinformation,” he said.

And previous Pew Research Center surveys not only found that most teens use AI chatbots, but they also found most teens use chatbots for schoolwork. And most teens think their classmates are using AI to cheat.

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Okolo struck an encouraging tone about the turnout for JED’s briefing in Washington this week, which was attended by about 150 stakeholders in the youth mental health space.

And she said Washington finally seems to be listening to the drumbeat of concerns over AI from youth advocates.

Health and Human Services official Dr. Stephanie Haridopolos even spoke at the event about the new surgeon general’s advisory on the harms of screen use for children and adolescents.

“And thumbing through that report, we found that a lot of the recommendations coming out of HHS matched ours, because they're tracking concerns around development and mental health,” Okolo said.

The event was a preview of the full report JED will release this fall.

And Okolo said it served as an opportunity for JED to press for policy action, such as codifying age-appropriate design and safety standards, implementing universal privacy, and preserving age verification systems.

“We don't fully understand this AI entity as it stands and what the use marker is before it turns into things like addiction or mental health implications,” Okolo warned. “What we do know, though, is that our youth are most vulnerable because they are digital natives. This is all they know. They're assuming a lot and consuming a lot from these platforms. And just because of where they are developmentally, from our perspective, this is where some of the harms come into play.”