A CELCIS Emerging Insight Series webinar

Companion, advisor or misguided friend? What do we need to know about the relationships children and young people have with AI and chatbots?

Across the world, children and young people are exposed to AI-powered tools every day. Some of this is by choice, some by design. How might this be affecting the health and wellbeing of young people? Could using chatbots help or hinder how our children develop and navigate the world we live in? What does their interaction with these technologies and tools tell us about what they need, and can these be used safely?

With AI increasingly present in the daily lives of children and young people, as part of our webinar series focusing in on AI and children’s social care, we’re turning to consider what it is that those with a professional and personal interest in their care and protection need to understand about the impact and influence that the use of AI might be having in young lives.  

On 23 April, we’re bringing together new practice and research insight to put a specific spotlight on these questions. We’ll hear from:

• Dr Jonathan Cantor, Senior Policy Researcher, RAND, co-author of a recent study on the use of AI for mental health advice among adolescents and young adults in the US

• Dr Jason Nagata, Associate Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine at the University of California San Francisco and affiliated faculty with the Institute for Global Health Sciences, paediatrician and researcher specialising in adolescent medicine, epidemiology, data science and use of digital media

• Dr Michael Robb, Head of Research, Common Sense Media, and co-author of the recent study published by Common Sense on how and why teens use AI companions.

There will also be space for questions.

This series of webinars is open to anyone with a professional or personal interest in and responsibility to support children and families in Scotland, the UK and anywhere in the world. This includes:

• Practitioners in social care, health, and education
• Service managers responsible for shaping and delivering key services
• National and local policy leads and decision-makers
• Local service commissioners
• Parents and carers
• Students and researchers of social care

Book your place

Source material and pre-reading

• Talk, Trust, and Trade-Offs: How and Why Teens Use AI Companions: https://www.commonsensemedia.org/research/talk-trust-and-trade-offs-how-and-why-teens-use-ai-companions

• Use of Generative AI for Mental Health Advice Among US Adolescents and Young Adults: https://www.rand.org/pubs/external_publications/EP71039.html

• Lowering the risks of interactions with chatbots: https://www.npr.org/2025/12/29/nx-s1-5646633/teens-ai-chatbot-sex-violence-mental-health

• To support this series of webinars, an online resource of video explainers and existing guidance and research has been put together by CELCIS. You can find it here.

CELCIS, the Centre for Excellence for Children’s Care and Protection, is a leading improvement, innovation and research centre for children and young people’s support, care and protection, based at the University of Strathclyde.

CELCIS is a fully accredited CPD provider with the CPD Certification Service (CPD UK)