WSJ Tech News Briefing · Tuesday, September 29, 2026
New research indicates that a significant portion of middle school students are opting to interact with AI chatbots over human peers. One study found that two to four students in every average classroom of 35 prefer AI friends, leading to concerns about the impact on social development.
“And one of the researchers said that two to four kids in every classroom in their study were saying that they preferred interacting with a chatbot over a human peer.”
“The other concern is that conversing with chatbots is taking time away from conversations with real people and real friendships in real life.”
“And that's particularly concerning among this younger age group because early adolescence is when people's brains are being wired to build relationships.”