Research shows AI companions damage children’s social skills with unrealistic expectations

Children who grow up with instant AI responses are struggling to develop patience and empathy needed for human relationships, according to research highlighting how artificial intelligence companions may be undermining essential social skills. This digital conditioning creates unrealistic expectations that friends and family should always be immediately available, potentially damaging children’s ability to form meaningful connections as their brains continue developing until age 25.

What you should know: AI companions provide unlimited, instant availability that real human relationships cannot match, creating problematic expectations for children.

• Unlike social media that still depends on human responses, AI systems offer truly instant, perpetual engagement without the natural rhythms of human availability.
• Children increasingly view AI interactions as equivalent to human friendship, with some reporting that talking to AI chatbots “feels like talking to a friend.”
• Real relationships require timing, boundaries, and mutual consideration—skills that develop only through practice with actual humans.

The social skills at risk: Research shows children are missing critical interpersonal development opportunities when they choose digital availability over human complexity.

• Essential skills include waiting for responses while respecting others’ schedules, reading social context to understand availability, and managing frustration when conversations don’t go as expected.
• Children also need to practice showing consideration by recognizing that people have other commitments and building tolerance for delayed gratification in social interactions.
• Real conversations contain unpredictable elements that require reading social cues, respecting availability, and adapting dialogue through human practice.

Warning signs parents should watch: Several behavioral patterns indicate when children need more balance between technology and human relationship practice.

• Demand-style communication: Sending multiple follow-up messages or expressing frustration when humans aren’t instantly available.
• Preference shifting: Choosing AI interactions over waiting for human responses, even for important conversations.
• Social abandonment: Dropping friendships after experiencing normal human unavailability like being busy with family or homework.
• Impatience: Increasing frustration with natural human rhythms and response times.

How to teach “human flow”: Parents can help children understand that healthy relationships work differently from AI systems by modeling appropriate expectations.

• Explain that “real friends have rhythms” and that availability varies, making connections special when they happen.
• Demonstrate that AI is “always on because it’s not real” and doesn’t have homework, family time, or bad days like human friends do.
• Model this by not always being immediately available to non-urgent requests and explaining that healthy people need processing time and space.
• Frame relationships as “dances, not vending machines” that require rhythm, timing, and consideration.

The balanced approach: Children can benefit from both AI efficiency and human connection skills when parents provide proper guidance.

• AI remains valuable for information-gathering, brainstorming, and learning support.
• However, children must also develop interpersonal skills that AI cannot teach, including reading social cues, respecting timing, and building relationships through shared experiences.
• Future relationships will benefit from learning these skills while social expectations are still forming during brain development.