India, Sept. 1 -- Young people who turn to AI chatbots for emotional support or personal advice may be more likely to experience serious emotional problems, according to a new study from the University of Ottawa.
The study looked at survey responses from 39,761 students in grades 4 to 12 across four Ontario school boards, conducted between May 2025 and March 2026 as part of the Ontario Health and Peer Relations Study.
About 21% of the students said they had used an AI chatbot to talk about their feelings or get advice about relationships with friends, family or others. Notably, students who often used AI for schoolwork were also more likely to use it for emotional support.
Even after researchers considered factors such as age, gender, lo...