A growing number of teens are finding connections in code. One in five high school students said they or someone they know has had a romantic relationship with a chatbot, according to new data from the Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT). Nearly half also call AI a friend or an escape, and some noted that the bots are easier to talk to than their parents.<\/p>\n
The CDT report found that the heavy classroom use of AI is deepening the disconnection between students and teachers, with many students saying that AI makes them feel less connected in class.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Drawn from CDT\u2019s Hand in Hand survey<\/a>, the research polled 1,030 high school students, 806 teachers, and 1,018 parents nationwide during the 2024-2025 school year. Eighty-six percent of students reported they used AI in the past school year, and half said they used it for schoolwork.<\/p>\n It examined how the rapid spread of AI in schools is influencing students\u2019 relationships, well-being, and daily life, revealing not just how teens use these tools, but what they risk losing along the way. The results paint a revealing picture of how deeply the technology is now woven into teens\u2019 emotional and social lives.<\/p>\n Forty-two percent of the students surveyed admitted they\u2019ve chatted with AI as a friend or companion or used it as a way to escape real life.\u00a0<\/p>\n The conversations aren\u2019t always happening off school grounds, either. Nearly a third of students reported using a school-issued device or software for personal exchanges with AI, raising concerns about privacy and the blurred boundaries between learning and leisure. For many teens, those chats have become emotionally easier than human conversations, with 38% stating it\u2019s easier to talk to AI than to their parents.<\/p>\n In classrooms where AI use is more common, students say the trade-off is clear: lessons may run smoothly, but they feel less personal. Fifty percent of students reported feeling less connected to their teachers when AI is used in class<\/a>, and 38% revealed they\u2019d rather turn to a chatbot<\/a> than ask a teacher when they don\u2019t understand something.<\/p>\n Researchers noted that the pattern underscores how easily AI tools<\/a> can crowd out human interaction. \u201cStudents should know they are not actually talking to a person. They are talking to a tool,\u201d said Elizabeth Laird, one of the report\u2019s authors.<\/p>\n As classrooms grow more automated, CDT\u2019s findings suggest something harder to measure is slipping away \u2014 the sense of connection that keeps learning human.<\/p>\n The study also revealed that the people meant to guide students through it are struggling to keep up. Only 11% of teachers said they\u2019ve received training on how to respond if a student\u2019s use of AI harms their well-being.\u00a0<\/p>\n Additionally, many educators reported they\u2019re learning the technology as they go, often with little direction on how to manage its emotional or ethical fallout.<\/p>\n Parents aren\u2019t much better equipped. Nearly two-thirds admitted they have no idea how their children are using AI. That lack of awareness, researchers warn, leaves students to navigate increasingly personal relationships with algorithms<\/a> on their own.<\/p>\n CDT President Alexandra Reeve Givens said in a press release<\/a> that \u201cstudents need strong relationships with their teachers,\u201d adding that the benefits of AI \u201ccannot distract from the core mission of schools.\u201d<\/p>\n The disconnect between students and the adults guiding them may be the most pressing finding of all. Until schools and families close the knowledge gap, teens will continue to turn to AI for answers, empathy, or even romantic connections, or needs that technology can mimic but not truly meet.<\/p>\n The issue is gaining traction beyond education circles, with <\/strong>OpenAI adding new safety measures to protect young people<\/strong><\/a> using ChatGPT.<\/strong><\/p>\n The post 1 in 5 Students Now Calls AI a Romantic Partner<\/a> appeared first on eWEEK<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A growing number of teens are finding connections in code. One in five high school students said they or someone they know has had a romantic relationship with a chatbot, according to new data from the Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT). Nearly half also call AI a friend or an escape, and some noted […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5292","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cybersecurityinfocus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5292"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cybersecurityinfocus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cybersecurityinfocus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cybersecurityinfocus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5292"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cybersecurityinfocus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5292\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cybersecurityinfocus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5292"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cybersecurityinfocus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5292"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cybersecurityinfocus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5292"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}From homework to heart talk<\/h3>\n
More efficient but less human<\/h3>\n
Untrained, unaware, and already behind<\/h2>\n