EDITOR’S NOTE: Kara Alaimo is an associate professor of communication at Fairleigh Dickinson University. Her book “Over the Influence: Why Social Media Is Toxic for Women and Girls — And How We Can Take It Back” was published in 2024 by Alcove Press. Follow her on Instagram, Facebook and Bluesky.

When two of James Johnson-Byrne’s friends got into an argument earlier this year, he didn’t know what to do. So the 16-year-old turned to an AI companion for advice.

AI companions are digital characters who text and talk with users, according to Common Sense Media, a San Francisco-based nonprofit organization that helps parents and teachers instill critical thinking skills in children.

The chatbot told Johnson-Byrne, who lives in Philadelphia, to separate his friends. He did so and it solved the immediate problem, he said. But “now they don’t talk much.”

The experience showed him that AI companions “can’t find the deeper issue,” he said. “I’d be scared to ask them a deep, underlying question.”