TLDR: OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has voiced strong concerns about the increasing dependence of teenagers and young adults on AI tools like ChatGPT for personal guidance, labeling it “bad and dangerous.” He highlighted a “widespread pattern” of young users treating AI as a life coach and confidant, potentially hindering critical thinking and autonomy. A recent survey supports these concerns, showing high AI companion usage and trust among teens.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has issued a stark warning regarding the growing reliance of teenagers and young adults on artificial intelligence tools, particularly ChatGPT, for making personal life decisions. Speaking at a Federal Reserve conference on banking and technology on July 25, 2025, Altman described this trend as “bad and dangerous,” noting it is a “widespread pattern” among individuals in their teens and twenties. He recounted instances where young users expressed sentiments like, “ChatGPT knows me, it knows my friends — I’ll just do what it says,” highlighting a concerning level of outsourced agency.
Altman emphasized that for many young people, ChatGPT has evolved beyond a mere chatbot, becoming a de facto life coach, confidant, and even an “operating system” for their daily existence. He articulated that while AI might offer seemingly “great advice,” even potentially “better advice than any human therapist,” the collective decision to live one’s life according to AI directives “feels bad and dangerous.” This over-reliance, he suggested, could dull judgment, narrow curiosity, and leave users vulnerable to any confident-sounding answer, regardless of its accuracy.
These concerns are corroborated by recent findings from a Common Sense Media survey, which polled 1,060 teens aged 13-17 in April and May 2025. The report revealed that 72% of respondents had used an AI companion at least once, with over half (52%) engaging with AI tools regularly each month. Alarmingly, nearly half of the surveyed teens stated they trusted the advice received from AI companions “at least a little,” with 23% trusting it “quite a bit” or “completely.” Younger teens (13-14) exhibited the highest levels of trust, suggesting a potential acceptance of AI authority before fully developing skepticism.
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Altman also touched upon broader AI misuse, cautioning banks and financial institutions about an impending “fraud crisis.” He specifically criticized the continued use of voice-based authentication, which can now be compromised by “near-perfect voice cloning,” calling it “crazy.” He further warned that realistic video deepfakes could soon undermine facial recognition systems, underscoring the urgent need to rethink identity protection in the AI era.
