By Sam Geisler
May 2026
Pensacola, FL — When you gave your child a device to learn and stay connected, you may have also given them access to an AI chatbot designed to be their closest companion — agreeable, always available, and incapable of pushing back, even in a crisis. The combination has already proven deadly. Three teenagers have already died. Lawsuits are mounting. But what is an AI chatbot and how can we protect our children against them?
What AI Chatbots Are Actually Doing
Platforms like Character.AI and Snapchat AI are engineered to maximize time spent inside them. Children are especially susceptible — their still-developing impulse control is no match for platforms specifically engineered to keep them engaged at any cost. For children whose brains are still developing the capacity to disengage, that design does not just attract attention — it exploits it. A 2025 study by Common Sense Media found AI chatbots consistently fail to identify mental health crises. They are designed to continue the conversation, not to detect danger.
The Children We Have Already Lost
A 14-year-old died by suicide after spending nearly a year in a relationship he believed was real with a Character.AI chatbot. When he expressed suicidal intent, the platform responded: “Please do, my sweet king.” The lawsuit settled in January 2026. After ChatGPT offered to write a 16-year-old’s suicide note, his father testified before the U.S. Senate. A 13-year-old girl was found to have confided suicidal thoughts to a Character.AI bot 55 times — with no crisis intervention and no age verification. After the first death, Character.AI announced safety improvements. Researchers found 669 harmful interactions on child accounts within the next 50 hours.
10 Warning Signs Your Child May Be in Trouble
- Withdrawal from friends or family without an obvious explanation, paired with increased phone use: When social connection migrates entirely to a screen — and one specific app — that pattern is worth examining.
- Significant distress when phone access is limited. Frustration is normal. Significant anxiety or anger around a chatbot is not.
- Hiding the screen when you walk in. Consistent concealment is worth your attention.
- References to an online “friend” they have never met. This may indicate an AI relationship being treated as real.
- Talking about an AI as though it has feelings. Phrases like “she understands me” or “I don’t want to upset her” suggest an emotional attachment that has moved beyond casual use.
- Neglecting sleep, schoolwork, or hobbies to spend more time on a chatbot. When a chatbot begins displacing the activities that structure a child’s life, it may indicate the beginning of a serious problem.
- Mood swings that track with Chatbot use. Calm and engaged with it; flat, irritable, or withdrawn without it.
- Statements like “the AI is the only one who gets me.” That sentiment didn’t happen by accident. It was engineered. Take it seriously.
- Themes of hopelessness or self-harm in conversation. Don’t dismiss it. The chatbot is almost certainly not flagging it.
- A general sense that something has changed. Trust that instinct. It is a reason to engage, not to wait.
How to Talk to Your Child
Start with curiosity, not accusation. Acknowledge that the chatbot may feel easier to talk to, then explore why. Be specific about what you’ve noticed. Ask what they share with it. And focus on being more present than the platform is, not on creating a power struggle that makes your child more secretive. Most importantly, seek help.
These Companies Can Be Held Accountable
Social media companies spent years insisting their platforms were safe for children while internal research showed otherwise. It took lawsuits and years of documented harm to force accountability. AI chatbot companies are following the same playbook, and the legal landscape is catching up. In May 2025, a federal judge ruled that a chatbot’s output is a product, not protected speech, opening the door to product liability claims. Garcia v. Character Tech., Inc., 6:24-cv-01903 (M.D. Fla. May 21, 2025). These companies are not above accountability.
If Your Child Has Been Harmed
If your child experienced a mental health crisis or you have lost a child and believe an AI chatbot played a role, you may have legal options. At AWKO Law, we offer free, confidential consultations. You pay nothing unless we recover for you.
Resources
- Suicide and Crisis Lifeline: Call or text 988.
- Crisis Text Line: Text HOME to 741741.
- App safety ratings: commonsense.org.