UAE: Does your ‘lonely’ child turn to AI ‘friends’ for emotional support? – News

Since young people tend to spend a lot of time online, they are increasingly influenced by the digital world and are susceptible to many dangers. Several shocking cases have emerged as many lonely teenagers are unable to draw a line between the virtual sphere and the real world.

Experts have recalled cases where teenagers faced real danger online. They advised parents to be extra vigilant and find reasons for their children to find comfort online.

A child psychiatrist from Dubai told how he treated a young patient who started living as a character in an online game. “She was so addicted to the game that she started feeling the trauma of that character and started behaving like that,” said Dr. CB Binu, chief psychiatrist and medical director of Al Fasht Medical Center. “It’s been several years, but she still hasn’t fully recovered from the disease.”

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According to Dr Binu, lonely and vulnerable young people often turn to the digital world or online ‘friends’ for comfort and kinship. His comments come after a Florida mother filed a lawsuit against an artificial intelligence chatbot startup, accusing it of causing her 14-year-old son’s suicide in February. She claims the boy became so addicted and attached to the ‘scarily realistic’ chatbot that he didn’t want to be without it.

Dr. Binu said the case reminded him of the Blue Whale Challenge that had taken over the online world a few years ago. The challenge, which started as an innocent game, then encouraged participants to self-harm before ultimately asking them to commit suicide. “The most important factor of this challenge was that it targeted already vulnerable people,” he said. “Similarly, online fraudsters and similar chatbots prey on vulnerable people, ultimately pushing them to the edge.”

Digital escape

According to Antony Bainbridge, clinical director at Resicare Alliance, a boarding school for young people with mental health and behavioral problems, the internet offers many teenagers a “seemingly easy escape” from real-life problems.

“Children and young people may turn to online platforms where they can meet strangers, seeking validation or connection when they are lonely,” he said. “Their isolation may be due to factors such as bullying at school or family issues such as divorce, busy parents or tense family dynamics, or pandemic-related changes, which disrupted social activities and routines, causing children to rely more heavily on digital interactions. Each of these factors may increase the risk of suicidal ideation among this population.”

Teen Coach and Neuroscience Trainer Madhumita Adhya said that young people often refuse to talk to their friends, parents or teachers but open up to strangers. “These students are more likely to open up virtually to AI-generated characters who can offer them friendship than the people they know,” she said. “Teenagers’ prefrontal cortex is just developing, so any form of praise works wonders and they can’t see how their brains can be manipulated by virtual characters. Specifically, the receptors for the “happiness hormones” oxytocin and dopamine multiply in a part of the brain called the ventral striatum, making teens extra sensitive to attention and admiration from others.