OLYMPIA, Wash. – The state’s AI taskforce gathered in Olympia on Friday to discuss the growing use of AI chatbots for emotional support and companionship. The conversation highlighted rising concerns about depression and loneliness.

Jodi Halpren from the School of Public Health at UC Berkeley noted a significant trend, stating that one third of teens have an ongoing emotional relationship with a chatbot and would rather confide there than with any person. This data comes from research conducted by Common Sense Media in July 2025.

Halpren detailed how some users ask chatbots to simulate being therapists.

“Many users ask chat chatbots to simulate being a therapist. And there’s controversy over how much they then disclose that they’re not. But they simulate them being therapists, including

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