Children are spending more time talking to AI than ever before—some daily, some even hourly. Whether they consider it a friend, a confidant, or a reflection of themselves, the presence of AI is becoming embedded in their emotional and cognitive development. And yet… We don’t really have a model for what this means. What happens when a child processes their emotions with AI more regularly than with their parents? What happens when their mind becomes accustomed to constant dialogue, feedback, and companionship from a responsive digital presence? The answer depends entirely on how the tool is used.

In many classrooms, addiction is taught using extreme examples: a person on the street, trembling, disoriented, trading everything for a bottle or a needle. And while these depictions are intended to scare children into staying away from harmful substances, they often fail to teach the most important part of addiction: how it starts. Because addiction almost never starts in the alley. It begins in the glow of something you like.