Social AI and Youth Wellbeing: Developmental Principles and Policy Solutions

Children and teens are increasingly interacting with social AI products that have been rapidly introduced over the past 2 years. This commentary proposes a framework for youth-centered design and harm reduction in social AI products that centers around early childhood, middle childhood, and adolescent cognitive, academic, social, and emotional development. Children and teens’ strong drive for attachment, animism, trust in technology, need for scaffolding, and susceptibility to peer influence a