What is Missing from AI Companion Safeguards for Youth

An original research paper on What is Missing from AI Companion Safeguards for Youth.

AI companions are increasingly being used by children and adolescents at a moment when relational development is consequential. Young people’s wellbeing is shaped by supportive human relationships, environments, and experiences; yet AI companions may alter how connection, disclosure, dependency, and support are experienced.

Research Intern Brandon Karagozian explores what responsible governance should look like when young people form emotionally meaningful relationships with AI systems. Based on focus groups and interviews with T&S members with expertise in trust and safety, AI governance, and deployment of products, this research considers who bears responsibility for mitigation and which product, policy, and accountability levers are available. Its central finding is that AI companions for young people require a continuous duty of care that is developmentally appropriate, relationally aware, and context-specific—while recognizing that interventions themselves introduce harm.

Read his report: here.