Nearly Three-Fourths of Teens Use AI Companions

By Rebecca Paredes

September 24, 2025

Welcome to Parent Pixels, a parenting newsletter filled with practical advice, news, and resources to support you and your kids in the digital age. This week:

Nearly a third of teens say chatting with an AI is as satisfying as talking to a person. Do you know how your child uses AI companion apps?
Sony rolled out new parental controls for PS4 and PS5 that you can start using today.
What are the “rules” for reading your child’s text messages?

Digital Parenting

🤖 Nearly three-fourths of teens use AI companions: Does your teen have a secret girlfriend? What if she’s AI? According to Common Sense Media, 72% of teens ages 13–17 have used AI companions — apps designed specifically for emotional support, connection, and human-like interactions. Nearly a third said chatting with an AI felt at least as satisfying as talking to a person, and 10% said it felt more satisfying.

But AI companies don’t have a good track record of keeping child safety in mind with these conversations. It wasn’t until recently that OpenAI announced that ChatGPT will stop talking about suicide with teens, and the FTC is demanding information from OpenAI, Snap, Meta, and other tech companies about the safety measures in place to protect kids that interact with their AI chatbots.

Kids are having vulnerable, emotionally charged conversations with AI characters that aren’t designed with age-appropriate content filters, and kids are suffering because of it. If your child uses AI apps like Polybuzz, Character.ai, and ChatGPT, you need to stay informed about the content of their conversations, because it’s not always fun and games.

We’re launching a new way to monitor your child’s AI apps in BrightCanary. You’ll be able to see not only what apps they’re using, but also what they’re sending and any red flags in their conversations. The update rolls out this week — stay tuned.

🎮 PlayStation debuts new parental control app: Good news if your kiddo is a gamer — Sony’s new PlayStation Family App offers robust parental controls and insights across PS4 and PS5. The app, available on iOS and Android, allows parents to see what games their kids are playing, approve extra playtime requests, restrict certain games, and customize privacy settings. Parents can also get real-time notifications when their kids are playing, as well as set playtime limits for each day of the week, among other features. The PlayStation Family App is available now.

📱The rules for reading your teen’s text messages: Talk to five other parents, and you’ll get five different approaches to monitoring phones. Some parents spot-check their child’s texts, while others take a hands-off approach. What’s the “right” way? According to the experts, your best bet is to:

Start early. Younger kids shouldn’t have free rein to message people or use their phone whenever they want.
Don’t sneak. Parental monitoring shouldn’t be a secret. Explain your concerns in an age-appropriate way, and make monitoring a requirement if they want their own device.
Have the hard conversations. If you find something inappropriate on your child’s phone, talk to them about it and let them know you can help in tricky situations.
Give your kids more independence as they mature. Younger kids need a hands-on approach, while older kids are potentially more mature and independent. Do what works for your family.

Check out the full list at Good Housekeeping, and save these nine mistakes parents make with text message monitoring (we’re all victims of #8).

Parent Pixels is a biweekly newsletter filled with practical advice, news, and resources to support you and your kids in the digital age. Want this newsletter delivered to your inbox a day early? Subscribe here.

Tech Talks

Teens are experimenting with AI companions for connection — sometimes instead of turning to friends or family. That’s why it’s important to talk about what these chats mean, what feels supportive, and what feels harmful.

“What do you think makes AI chats feel different from talking to a friend?”
“If you had a hard day, who would you rather talk to — an AI or a real person? Why?”
“Do you think AI always gives good advice?”
“Have you ever seen an AI say something that felt wrong or unhelpful? How did you react?”
“What do you think AI can do well, and what should always be left to people?”

What’s Catching Our Eye

💢 One way to get teens to listen to you: talk the talk and walk the walk. That’s according to a new study by an international team of researchers, which concluded that “the way teenagers receive their parents’ warnings depends less on the message itself and more on whether they see their parents as genuinely living up their own purported values.”

⏳ Oracle is calling dibs on TikTok. In the latest on TikTok’s fate in the US, the software giant Oracle will license TikTok’s algorithm. For now, things are status quo on your child’s favorite app to watch GRWM videos — President Trump extended the ban deadline another 120 days to allow time for the transaction to take place.

📚 “Digital literacy should be a part of every child's education, and today it must include AI literacy,” writes digital literacy educator and advocate Diana E. Graber.