AI, Teens & Relationships: What Parents Need to Know | Dr. Mitch Prinstein

What happens when kids and teenagers begin turning to AI chatbots for friendship, advice, reassurance, and connection?

In this episode of The Parenting Pair Podcast, Dr. Annalise Caron and Dr. Suzanne Allen sit down with psychologist and adolescent development expert Dr. Mitch Prinstein to explore how artificial intelligence (AI) is changing the way teens and young people experience relationships.

AI chatbots can be useful tools—but some are also designed to feel remarkably human. They remember what users have said, respond instantly, appear endlessly available, and may reinforce what a young person is already thinking or feeling. For tweens and teens navigating an especially important period of social and emotional development, that raises important questions about what happens when technology begins to replace some of the friction, vulnerability, and learning that come from real human relationships.

In this conversation, we explore:

• Why adolescence is such an important period for learning how to build relationships
• How teens are using AI chatbots for information, advice, companionship, and connection
• Why humans naturally form attachments to things that aren't human
• Why an AI chatbot can feel like a friend—even when we know it's a machine
• What happens when teens begin preferring chatbots over human peers
• How AI can remove the "friction" that is actually important for social and emotional development
• The potential connection between chatbot use, loneliness, and reduced interaction with human peers
• What teens may miss when AI replaces opportunities to navigate conflict, rejection, vulnerability, and repair
• Why real human connection matters so much during adolescence
• How parents can approach AI use without immediately turning the conversation into a battle
• Why curiosity and open-ended questions may be more effective than judgment
• How parents can model critical thinking about AI and help teens think about whether technology aligns with their values
• Why AI-enabled toys and chatbots may raise different concerns for younger children
• Why parents should think about AI use differently depending on their child's developmental stage
• What we still don't know about the long-term effects of AI on adolescent development

One of the central ideas in this conversation is simple but important: relationships aren't just something teenagers have—they are something teenagers learn through real life experience.

The disagreements, awkward conversations, misunderstandings, breakups, rejection, vulnerability, and repair that happen in real relationships can be difficult to watch as a parent. But they can also become important "learning moments" that help young people develop empathy, perspective-taking, communication skills, and the ability to navigate relationships throughout adulthood.

And as AI becomes increasingly sophisticated, parents may need to think not only about what their teens are doing with technology, but also about what opportunities they might be missing because of it.

CHAPTERS:

00:00 Why We As Humans Can Feel Attachment to a Chatbot

00:48 Today’s Topic: Teens, Technology & AI

00:59 Meet Dr. Mitch Prinstein

02:23 Why Adolescence Matters So Much

06:26 How Teens Are Using AI Chatbots

10:03 Why We Form Attachments to AI

11:41 When Kids Prefer Chatbots Over People

13:55 Why AI Chatbots Are So Compelling

15:13 The Mental Health & Developmental Risks

17:16 The Mental Health Implications

19:24 What Teens Lose When AI Replaces Relationships

23:01 Why Human Connection Can’t Be Replaced

25:55 Should AI Chatbots Be Regulated?

27:48 What Parents Need to Know

29:49 AI Guidance for Different Ages

32:35 How Parents Can Model Healthy AI Use

34:54 Curiosity Over Judgment

37:09 Growing Up in the AI Experiment

38:31 Final Thoughts

ABOUT DR. MITCH PRINSTEIN

Dr. Mitch Prinstein is the John Van Seters Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and co-director of the Winston Center for Technology and the Developing Mind. His research focuses on interpersonal relationships, adolescent development, mental health, and the ways technology and digital platforms influence young people.

He is also the author of Popular: The Power of Likability in a Status-Obsessed World, which examines the role of popularity, likability, relationships, and social status across development.

🔗 Learn more about Dr. Mitch Prinstein:
Mitch Prinstein's official website

🔗 Learn more about the Winston Center for Technology and the Developing Mind:
UNC Winston Center

🔗 That Popular Podcast — Mitch Prinstein and Aaron Keck’s podcast exploring psychology, relationships, human behavior, and the social dynamics we experience every day.
Listen to That Popular Podcast on Apple Podcasts

🔗 Learn more about Dr. Prinstein's book, Popular:
Popular: The Power of Likability in a Status-Obsessed World

A NOTE FOR PARENTS

You don't have to become an AI expert overnight to have meaningful conversations with your teenager about technology.

Start with curiosity.

Ask what they're using, what they like about it, what they find helpful, what concerns them, and what they think AI can—and cannot—provide that a real person can.

The goal isn't simply to control technology. It's to help young people develop the judgment and relationship skills they will need to navigate a world in which AI is becoming part of everyday life.

💬 We want to hear from you: How is your teen or young adult using AI? Are they using it for school, advice, entertainment, companionship—or something else?

And if you're concerned about their AI use, what questions are you finding hardest to navigate as a parent?

Share your experience below. 👇

And if this conversation gave you something to think about, please subscribe to The Parenting Pair Podcast and share this episode with another parent.

AI and teens, teens and AI, AI chatbots and teens, teenagers and AI, AI and teen relationships, AI chatbots and teens, AI chatbots and tweens, AI and adolescent development, AI and teen mental health, parenting teens, parenting teenagers, teen mental health, adolescent development, teen relationships, technology and teens, AI chatbots, AI friendship, AI companionship, teens and technology, parenting advice for teens, technology and mental health, human connection, teen loneliness, are AI chatbots bad for teenagers, how does AI affect teenagers, can teens become attached to AI, should parents let teenagers use AI chatbots, can AI replace human relationships, how are teenagers using AI, how should parents talk to teens about AI

teens, tweens, parenting teenagers, podcast, teenage behavior, psychology, adolescent brain de...