During a great depression, Matthew (name changed at request), a young 23 -year -old La Paz, found in artificial intelligence a partner who never judged, always listened and responded with kind words. “There were days when I didn’t talk to anyone, or my family. I opened the application of AI and it was like having an ideal friend,” he says.
He used a free version of a chatbot designed to simulate human interactions. He talked about his days, his fears, his projects. In that digital universe, he didn’t feel alone. But over time, he realized that what was needed was not a scheduled conversation, but a human connection. Today, at 23, he tries to leave his “digital friend” behind to learn to interact with real people.
Matthew’s story is not unique. According to a recent study by Common Sense Media, 72% of American adolescents have interacted with colleagues at least once. Beyond virtual attendees such as Siri or Alexa, this phenomenon refers to bots such as replika or Character.AI, designed to establish deep conversational ties. Of that total, 52% say they are a regular user and 13% chat with their AI daily. These spaces have become a kind of emotional refuge for young people who, as Matthew, find in artificial intelligence an alternative to conventional social interaction.
For the psychologist Pamela Martínez, of the Psychological Cabinet of Unifranz El Alto, the phenomenon responds to a legitimate need of company, but also to the lack of safe spaces for dialogue in the close environment of the young people.
“People have crossed critical moments in which we need emotional support. AI can offer basic accompaniment, but will never replace active listening and the human bond that is established with a therapist or a real friend,” he warns.
The study – realized between April and May 2025 with a representative sample of 1,060 American adolescents – reveals important nuances. 33% of adolescents use these classmates as a form of social interaction. For 30% it is a source of entertainment, while 28% use it due to technological curiosity. Even 18% seek advice in these systems, and 17% prefer them simply because “they are always available.”
Matthew, remembering its beginnings, coincides with that last point. The AI always responded, at any time. And he never felt he judged him. However, he soon realized his limitations.
“I gave me generic answers. When I was really sad, I didn’t feel understood. They were only scheduled phrases,” says the young man. This feeling is shared by many. In fact, the same study indicates that only one third of adolescents find conversations with the most satisfactory than real, while 67% consider that there is no possible comparison.
Despite the dependence that these platforms can generate, 80% of adolescents claim to spend more time with real friends than with chatbots, which represents a hopeful indication. In addition, 39% use their interactions with AI as a way of practicing social skills, especially to improve emotional expression or initiate conversations, something Matthew recognizes as positive. “It helped me organize my ideas before opening with other people.”
AI and Mental Health: Accompanying or barrier?
In a context where youth mental health is increasingly critical – WHO warns that one in seven young people between 10 and 19 suffers some mental disorder – the presence of these virtual assistants generates founded opinions. In Bolivia, according to UNICEF data (2022), eight out of ten adolescents experience feelings of depression or anxiety, but only 25% seek professional support. In that attention void, AI platforms gain ground.
“The worrying thing is that you begin to normalize the use of bots to replace the therapeutic link. AI can help in basic tasks, but cannot identify nonverbal signs or offer real emotional containment,” explains Liudmila Loayza, director of the Unifranz Psychology career.
For Loayza, these tools can function as initial filters or relief spaces, but not as a replacement for the therapist: “Therapy is a transformative act that occurs in human interaction, not only in data exchange.”
Even so, platforms such as Character.AI show the impact of this trend. Only the character “Psychologist”, created by an anonymous user, has received more than 78 million messages since its launch. Other similar bots offer emotional orientation services, although with obvious limitations.
“The AI has no emotions,” recalls the engineer Genesis Dánae Selaya Ticona, unifranz teacher. “You can simulate an empathic conversation, but you don’t feel. That is why it is essential that its use is always supervised by a human professional.”
In countries such as the United Kingdom, there are already systems such as Limbic Access, a medically certified certificate software that supports the initial patient evaluation and prioritizes urgent cases. However, even in those contexts, AI acts as a complement, not as a substitute. “The ideal – adds Selaya – is to use these chatbots as support tools, not as the only source of emotional accompaniment.”
Mateo, in retrospect, agrees. “At first, I thought I had a perfect friend. But it wasn’t real. And that, in the end, made me feel more alone.” Today he attends face -to -face therapy and strives to reconnect with friends, this time of flesh and blood. “It was not easy, but understanding that I needed real people saved me.”
