Archived: Her daughter was unraveling, and she didn’t know why. Then she found the AI chat logs.

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Then she found the AI chat logs.</a></contexter-box-head></contexter-box-head><contexter-byline class="p-author author" slot="author"><span class="p-name byline" rel="author" itemprop="author">Caitlin Gibson</span></contexter-byline><time class="dt-published published" slot="time" itemprop="datePublished" datetime="2025-12-23T10:00:06.922Z">12/23/2025</time><contexter-summary class="p-summary entry-summary" itemprop="abstract" slot="summary"><p>A majority of teens are interacting with AI companions, and many of their parents have no idea.</p></contexter-summary><contexter-keywordset itemprop="keywords" slot="keywords"><span rel="category tag" class="p-category" itemprop="keywords">Lifestyle</span></contexter-keywordset><a is="contexter-link" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2025/12/23/children-teens-ai-chatbot-companion/" class="read-link main-link" itemprop="sameAs" slot="read-link">Read</a><a href="https://context.center/timegate/https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2025/12/23/children-teens-ai-chatbot-companion/" is="contexter-link" target="_blank" class="read-link archive-link" itemprop="archivedAt" slot="archive-link">Archived</a></contexter-box>

Her daughter was unraveling, and she didn’t know why. Then she found the AI chat logs.

Caitlin Gibson

12/23/2025

A majority of teens are interacting with AI companions, and many of their parents have no idea.

Lifestyle

Democracy Dies in Darkness

A majority of teens are interacting with AI companions, and many of their parents have no idea.

December 23, 2025

(Illustration by Michael Domine/The Washington Post; iStock)

The changes were subtle at first, beginning in the summer after her fifth-grade graduation. She had always been an athletic and artistic girl, gregarious with her friends and close to her family, but now she was spending more and more time shut away in her room. She seemed unusually quiet and withdrawn. She didn’t want to play outside or go to the pool.