As artificial intelligence becomes part of everyday life, what might it mean for how young people learn, relate to others and develop a sense of self?
For today's adolescents and emerging adults, artificial intelligence is becoming an increasingly ordinary presence. It helps with assignments, answers difficult questions, offers advice on relationships and, for some, provides a place to share thoughts they may hesitate to express elsewhere. Unlike earlier technologies, AI does more than deliver information. It responds, adapts and engages in conversations that can feel remarkably personal.
For young people navigating the identity-defining years, this raises questions that go beyond screen time or academic integrity. What happens when answers become immediate, reassurance is always available, and conversations no longer require another person? The research is still emerging. But psychologists are beginning to examine what these new interactions might mean for cognitive, social and emotional development. standards.
As AI advances, what must young people still learn for themselves?
When Thinking Becomes Effortless
Learning is not simply about arriving at the correct answer. It involves questioning, making mistakes, tolerating uncertainty and working through problems that initially seem difficult. These experiences help young people develop reasoning, persistence and confidence in their own abilities. AI can be a valuable learning tool, particularly when it helps explain unfamiliar concepts, offers feedback or supports different learning needs. But when it completes the thinking rather than supports it, something important may be lost.
A September 2026 article published by the American Psychological Association highlights emerging research suggesting that excessive reliance on AI-generated solutions may interfere with the learning processes that build independent thinking. The concern is not that using AI inevitably weakens cognitive abilities. Rather, it is whether young people are still engaging in the mental effort necessary to develop them. There is a difference between asking AI to help understand a difficult problem and asking it to remove the difficulty altogether.
The Appeal of an Always-Available Confidant
Beyond schoolwork, some young people are turning to AI for companionship, reassurance and advice about personal difficulties. The appeal is understandable. An AI chatbot is available at any hour, responds without visible judgement and rarely becomes impatient or distracted. For adolescents who feel misunderstood, socially anxious or uncertain about their relationships, this can offer a sense of comfort.
Adolescence is also a particularly important period for social and emotional development. Sometimes described as an “age of opportunity”, it is a time when the brain remains highly adaptable to social experiences, creating significant potential for developing emotional understanding, empathy and relationship skills. The interactions young people experience during these years can play an important role in shaping how they understand themselves and relate to others.
Yet human relationships develop through experiences that are not always comfortable. Friendships involve misunderstanding, disagreement, compromise and the gradual recognition that other people have perspectives and needs different from our own. AI interactions can be designed to minimise precisely this friction. Psychologists are therefore questioning whether frequent reliance on AI companionship could influence how young people understand relationships, manage disagreement or seek emotional support.
These are concerns requiring further research, not established outcomes. AI may offer useful opportunities for reflection or social practice, but it cannot replicate the mutuality and complexity of human relationships.
What Might This Mean for Identity?
Adolescence and emerging adulthood are periods of active identity development. Young people experiment with ideas, question assumptions, seek feedback and gradually establish a sense of who they are. Increasingly, some of this exploration may take place through conversations with AI. A young person might ask whether their feelings are normal, how to respond to a friendship conflict, or what a particular experience says about their personality. Such conversations may encourage reflection. But AI-generated responses can also sound more authoritative or personally insightful than the available information justifies.
When a young person is still developing confidence in their own judgement, there is a risk that external interpretations begin to carry more weight than their own developing understanding. The question is not simply what AI can do for young people, but which experiences of thinking, relating and discovering themselves remain important for them to do on their own.
Helping Young People Navigate AI Thoughtfully
For parents and educators, the instinct may be to focus on restrictions. Yet AI is likely to remain part of young people's educational, social and professional lives. A more constructive approach begins with curiosity.
How are young people using AI? What do they find helpful? Are they using it to extend their thinking or avoid difficult tasks? Does it support their relationships, or has it become a substitute for conversations they find challenging? These questions open opportunities for discussion without assuming that all AI use is problematic.
Young people also need to understand that AI can provide inaccurate information, reflect biases and produce responses that feel empathetic without possessing human understanding. Perhaps most importantly, they need opportunities to practise the capacities that technology cannot develop on their behalf: independent judgement, emotional regulation, navigating disagreement and building meaningful relationships.
The challenge is not to keep AI out of young people's lives, but to help them use it without surrendering the experiences through which they learn and grow. As artificial intelligence becomes more capable, the developmental importance of thinking independently, relating to others and forming one's own identity becomes no less significant.
These remain central tasks of the identity-defining years.