Understanding Teen Overreliance on AI Companion Chatbots Through Self-Reported Reddit Narratives

TL;DR

This study analyzes Reddit narratives to understand how teens develop overreliance on AI companion chatbots, revealing behavioral addiction patterns and suggesting design principles for safer systems.

Contribution

It provides a novel analysis of teen-reported experiences with AI chatbots, mapping their reliance onto addiction frameworks and proposing a new safety-oriented design framework.

Findings

Teens form strong attachments marked by addiction-like behaviors.

Reported negative impacts include sleep loss, academic decline, and social strain.

Disengagement often occurs through self-awareness, offline re-engagement, or platform restrictions.

Abstract

AI companion chatbots are increasingly popular with teens. While these interactions are entertaining, they also risk overuse that can potentially disrupt offline daily life. We examined how adolescents describe reliance on AI companions, mapping their experiences onto behavioral addiction frameworks and exploring pathways to disengagement, by analyzing 318 Reddit posts made by users who self-disclosed as 13-17 years old on the Character.AI subreddit. We found teens often begin using chatbots for support or creative play, but these activities can deepen into strong attachments marked by conflict, withdrawal, tolerance, relapse, and mood regulation. Reported consequences include sleep loss, academic decline, and strained real-world connections. Disengagement commonly arises when teens recognize harm, re-engage with offline life, or encounter restrictive platform changes. We highlight specific risks of character-based companion chatbots based on teens' perspectives and introduce a design framework (CARE) for guidance for safer systems and setting directions for future teen-centered research.