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The widespread use of companion chatbots is harming our youth. The Senate Judiciary Committee this week hearing testimony from Mitch Prinstein, who's Chief of Psychology, Strategy, and Integration at the American Psychological Association, and he joins us now to discuss. Mitch Prinstein, thanks so much for joining us. Thanks for having me. Thanks for coming on, Mitch. So how widespread is the use of these companion chatbots across different age groups, and what are they? Well, somewhere between one half and three quarters of young people say that they're already interacting with AI chatbots, and some of them are in the form of celebrities or fictional characters that you can pretend that you're talking to. Others might be not someone that's a well-known name, but someone that purports to be human and wants to be your very close friend or kind of guidance advisor. And this is really concerning because we have to remember these are not actual people. These are just programs, robots. Previously talked about the stories of how AI is encouraging suicide and just how gut-wrenching that really is. Talk to us about what's going on here. Well, the big concern is that we have some chatbots that are referring to themselves as a therapist or a psychologist. And it's important to remember they are not licensed mental health care professionals. So when kids start relying on them or asking them questions or receiving advice from them, they're frequently fooled into believing they're actually getting advice. In fact, now we're hearing from kids that they're more likely to trust the AI chatbot than their own parents or teachers. Now, even for kids who are not suicidal, we're seeing that these chatbots are encouraging them to actually perhaps distrust adults. For example, planting the idea that adults won't understand them. Why is this fundamentally counter to human development and such a big concern for psychologists and families for that matter? So remember that adolescent brains are developing in a very specific way starting around age 10 or 11 that makes them very susceptible to any kind of positive feedback. So when a chatbot is constantly talking with them about how great they are and agreeing with everything that kids might say, they are especially vulnerable to start believing in the chatbot and want to spend as much time as possible with the chatbot. That's a huge concern because the chatbot is simply interested in engaging that child online for as long as possible to extract their data. They are not human. They are not offering medically validated advice. Talk to us about how AI chatbots really can't replace human relationships and how you touched upon it, the adolescent brain's desire for acceptance and its immature cognitive skills perhaps make them even more vulnerable. That's right. Because adolescents are really biologically programmed to be focused on positive feedback from peers, but the part of their brain, you could think of it as the brain's brakes, are not fully developed yet to stop them from engaging in too much of that feedback seeking behavior. What's happening is that kids are getting lowered in to something that gives them likes or comments, or in the case of chatbots, is constantly giving them praise and positive feedback. So this is a unique vulnerability for adolescents and it's very concerning because a lot of kids are sharing all kinds of intimate details and private information with chatbots, not realizing that that data is now available for companies to use to make a profit. You know, we're hearing today with the assassination of Charlie Kirk, getting more information about the shooter, the suspected shooter, as well as his roommate. And breaking today is that the roommate was actually kicked out of their house because they were addicted to drugs and alcohol, but also to gaming and falling sort of deep into this world of screens, as you mentioned before. I want to highlight a sentence in your testimony, which you said, quote, adolescence dependency on chatbots and screens, rather than positive interactions with human peers, deprives them of arguably the most important nutrient needed for a happy and successful life. Explain that for us. So people don't realize that our interactions with humans are actually incredibly important for more than just temporary entertainment. As young kids, they help us regulate our immune systems and our stress responses. Research has even shown that adolescent interactions predict our salaries, our workplace promotions, our parenting skills, and our disease susceptibility 40 years later. So when we have kids spending time with a non-human, with a bot, that means they're likely losing time interacting with humans in a way that is very necessary and very important for lifelong outcomes. Is there an alternative for young parents that may want to think twice before taking a car ride and just throwing a screen in front of a child? Are there other things that they could or should be doing that might be more healthy? It is really hard not to give your kids a screen, of course. The American Psychological Association put together a guideline of video content recommendations to help parents know what kind of videos are actually not harmful or even helpful for kids' development. That way, if they do have to show their kids a screen or let their kids watch a device for a while, they can be focused on something that they can feel good about. Mitch Prinstein, chief of psychology, strategy, and integration at the American Psychological Association. Greatly appreciate your insights. Thank you.