When AI Feels Like a Friend
Panel Discussion: Teen Relationships with AI Companions
Official affiliate session for ‘Digit'all Future’ ITU–UNDP Digital@UNGA #UNGA81
Recent cases have brought new attention to the ways teenagers can form emotional relationships with AI chatbots. In 2024, the mother of 14-year-old Sewell Setzer III filed a lawsuit against Character.AI following her son’s death, alleging that he had developed an intense emotional attachment to a chatbot on the platform. The case raised difficult questions about what happens when an AI companion begins to feel less like a tool and more like a real relationship.
Teen relationships with AI can take different forms. Some users treat chatbots as friends or confidants, while others use them for romantic companionship, emotional support, or conversations that feel similar to therapy. These relationships can offer comfort and a private space to talk, but they can also blur the line between support and dependence.
Governments and platforms are beginning to respond to concerns about young people’s online safety. Australia now requires certain social media platforms to prevent users under 16 from holding accounts. AI companion platforms are also changing their own rules. Character.AI announced in 2025 that users under 18 would no longer have access to open-ended chatbot conversations, and introduced age assurance and parental insight tools.
Session Focus
This panel will focus specifically on teens’ emotional attachment to AI chatbots and how these tools are changing the way young people experience friendship, romance, emotional support, and advice.
The discussion will look at where AI companionship can be helpful, where it can become harmful, and what companies, policymakers, parents, schools, and young people should consider as these tools become more common.
The discussion is intended for youth, parents, policymakers, educators, technology companies, and other stakeholders interested in making AI companionship safer for young people.
Join us on Tuesday, 22 September 2026 at 3:00 PM ET during UN High-Level Week 2026 in New York for our virtual affiliate session supporting the ‘Digit’all Future’ theme of the ITU–UNDP Digital@UNGA programme where we will bring together a youth panel to discuss the urgent issues of teen mental health and what safeguards are needed to keep young people safe in the age of AI companions. Registration is free but required.
About the Organizer
To expand the critical work of Women in AI Ethics®, launched in 2018 to elevate the voices and work of diverse experts in the AI ethics space, WAIE+™ was established in 2025 as a public interest AI venture. Through its global expert community, fellowship program, and responsible AI ecosystem, WAIE+ provides educational programs and resources to build a safe and secure AI future for all of humanity. For more details, please visit waieplus.com or email us at team@womeninaiethics.org.
Panelists
Mira Camillo
Student; Vanguard Voices Columnist, WAIV Magazine; Founder, RIYA Project
Riverview High School, Sarasota, FL
Bio: Mira Camillo is a senior at Riverview High School in Sarasota, Florida, and an IB Diploma candidate. She writes the Vanguard Voices column on AI ethics and teenagers for WAIV Magazine. Her research on racial bias in social media recommender systems is under peer review at the National High School Journal of Science. She founded the RIYA Project in partnership with Tamil Nadu Foundation USA, which provides weekly workshops on AI and digital literacy to girls at the MMDA School in Chennai, India.
Fatima Hussain
Founder & Program Director @ y4rai, AI Governance Researcher @ Rule26ai
Youth for Responsible AI (Y4RAI)
Bio: Fatima Hussain is the Founder and Program Director of Youth for Responsible AI, a youth-led AI safety initiative supported by Rule26ai. She is a graduate of Istanbul Bilgi University in Political Science and Management Information Systems, with professional and academic experience across Germany, Turkey, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia. She led the production of the "AI Literacy Kit on Critical Thinking and Safe Use of AI for Teens,” a free, openly licensed resource for students aged 13 to 18 that teaches AI safety through documented cases and classroom simulations.
Allegra Cuomo
InnoEthics Founder and InnoEthics Live Podcast Co-Host, InnoEthics
Bio: Allegra Cuomo is a philosophy student at University College London and founder of the InnoEthics, which focuses on technology ethics, the ethics of AI, and how this translates to ethical AI governance and the regulation of emerging technologies. Allegra is passionate about how responsible technology and ethical AI implementation can have a positive impact on society. She authors InnoEthics and launched the InnoEthics Live podcast, bringing together technical and philosophical perspectives on questions about AI ethics. She spoke on 'Sociopathic Intelligence' at the AI for Good Summit 2026, champions digital wellbeing for youth at FlippGen, engages as AI Ethics Coordinator at the Global AI Governance Alliance, and advocates for the platforming of youth voices in the age of AI.