Youth Mental Health and Conversational AI: AI Use for Emotional Support In the Wild

Youth Mental Health and Conversational AI: AI Use for Emotional Support In the Wild

From University of California Audio Podcasts (Audio) by UCTV

May 4, 2026 · 29 min

About this episode

Cinnamon Bloss discusses the impact of conversational AI on youth mental health and the implications for emotional support.

Youth mental health is increasingly shaped by how teens use AI for emotional support outside clinical care. Cinnamon Bloss, Ph.D., UC San Diego, explains how growing use of conversational AI reflects major gaps in care and changing preferences for support. Bloss examines the appeal of AI’s accessibility and nonjudgmental responses, concerns about replacing human connection, and the need to monitor harms, helping clarify how AI fits into a fast-changing mental health landscape. She also points to the importance of listening to young people, improving AI credibility and transparency, expanding safety and privacy discussions in schools, and preparing clinicians and online safety workers for this new reality. This work helps explain why teens are turning to AI and points toward a more thoughtful balance between safety and access to mental health support. Series: "Exploring Ethics" [Health and Medicine] [Science] [Show ID: 41366]

People in this episode

Guest: Cinnamon Bloss

Topics covered

  • youth mental health
  • conversational AI
  • emotional support
  • AI accessibility
  • human connection
  • mental health landscape

Keywords

  • youth mental health
  • conversational AI
  • emotional support
  • AI accessibility
  • human connection
  • mental health care
  • safety
  • privacy

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: UC San Diego

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