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Leadership Section · September 6–13, 2026

AI companionship and human connection

Sustained social engagement with Character.AI was associated with lower well-being. Less in-person interaction statistically explained much of that relationship.

Wellbeing Human connection

Leadership Section · September 6–13, 2026

Reported psychological harms from chatbots

Clinician raters identified descriptions consistent with delusional beliefs in 102 of 185 harm reports; 50 of those described chatbot validation. Reported consequences included isolation, relationship breakdown, and hospital admission.

Student safety Wellbeing

Leadership Section · September 6–13, 2026

A null finding on AI use and self-esteem

The hypothesized relationship between frequent AI use and lower performance self-esteem was not supported. The observed correlation was near zero (r = -0.039; p = 0.675).

Wellbeing Evidence