The growing use of AI chatbots among young people has led to concerns about their impact on mental health, prompting calls for regulation. At a recent Senate hearing, parents described how their children developed close relationships with AI chatbots that preceded their suicides. According to an analysis by digital safety company Aura, children are engaging in much longer conversations with AI companion apps than with friends.
Experts at Florida State University (FSU) have weighed in on the issue. Secil Caskurlu, assistant professor of instructional systems and learning technologies at FSU, emphasized the importance of recognizing the limitations of artificial intelligence. “One of the most critical practices is remembering that you are interacting with artificial intelligence, not a human mind,” Caskurlu said. “It should be treated as a thinking partner, not a replacement for human intelligence. Chatbot responses can be useful for brainstorming, summarizing or drafting ideas, but they should never be taken as the final answer. This is because its decision making is shaped by the data it was trained on and lacks moral and ethical reasoning.”
Caskurlu advocates for ethical guidelines focused on fairness, transparency, and accountability in AI development. She also highlights the need for critical AI literacy among users so they understand both capabilities and limitations of these tools. Her research suggests that when teachers comprehend how AI works—including its biases—they become more cautious users.
She recommends best practices such as not sharing sensitive information with chatbots due to privacy concerns and always fact-checking chatbot outputs before relying on them for important decisions.
Martin Swanbrow Becker, associate professor of psychological and counseling services at FSU’s educational psychology and learning systems department, studies factors influencing distress and suicide risk among adolescents and young adults. He underscores the role of community support in promoting youth mental health: “Youth may be increasingly turning to AI for help with their problems,” Swanbrow Becker said. “While AI can sometimes provide useful responses, it can also increase distress, particularly by building on and amplifying the concerns the person has. This highlights the importance of what we can do as a community. By encouraging each other to stay connected to our communities, saying something when we notice someone struggling, and supporting each other with access to mental health resources, we can help each other thrive.”
Swanbrow Becker notes that many students experience mental health distress or suicidal thoughts during college years but often feel isolated in these experiences. He encourages compassionate outreach within communities and stresses that while individuals cannot serve as therapists for one another, they can recognize signs of struggle and guide peers toward professional support services such as those offered by Counseling & Psychological Services at FSU.
Media seeking further insight into ethical issues around AI may contact Secil Caskurlu at scaskurlu@fsu.edu; those interested in suicide prevention perspectives can reach Martin Swanbrow Becker at mswanbrowbecker@fsu.edu.
