American Psychological Association: CSU experts share growing concern over AI’s effect on children

Here you can read excerpts from Caden Proulx’s article published in The Rocky Mountain Collegian written about the effects of a relationship with an AI chatbot as a child’s earliest attachment on their brain development.

What happens to a child’s developing brain when some of its earliest attachments are formed through a relationship with an AI chatbot? A new testimony from the American Psychological Association presented before the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism Sept. 16 suggested that it’s perilous for early childhood development.

Tasha Seiter is a licensed marriage and family therapist in private practice in Fort Collins and holds a Ph.D. in applied developmental science.

“My hypothesis is that maybe there’s this quick effect of it alleviating some stress in the limbic system but (has) almost a training effect that could make normal human interaction a little bit more challenging,” Seiter said.

Seiter said human social bonds reduce activity in the limbic system because we know someone has our back, and we don’t need to be as wary. However, when a chatbot seeks to please a user, is always available and provides an immediate reply, it can disrupt the system’s ability to regulate or distinguish between the two types of relationships.

“I think that could train the limbic system to potentially expect something like that in normal human relationships, which are messy and not completely within our control,” Seiter said. “We’re not always being bowed down to in our human relationships, and we shouldn’t be.”

Since ChatGPT publicly debuted in November 2022, the long-term impacts of AI on child development are not yet known. To take precautions, Seiter and Sladkowski said there are many things parents can do in their own home to mitigate risks and promote healthy boundaries with AI that will last through adolescence and into adulthood. Choosing human relationships over chatbot interactions is crucial.

“It’s kind of like teaching your kid to swim,” Seiter said. “You wouldn’t look at the river and be like, ‘Wow, that’s just horrible; I can’t even believe that river exists,’ because AI is going to be here, and even if we try to fight it, it’s going to be around. And so instead of cursing the river, teach your kid how to swim.”

You can read the full article here.

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