Chatbots and the Narcissus Effect: Are AI Reflections Are Risky for Teens?

What are your thoughts on chatbots for teens and children?

Research is showing that they may not be good for developing minds, and everything I see makes me agree.

In Greek mythology, we have the story of Narcissus -- a young man so captivated by his reflection in a pool of water that he couldn’t look away.

Day after day, he gazed at himself -- imagining his own grandeur -- while believing himself the finest of mortals until the day he died.

In the end, he wastes his life in inaction.

In the myth, Narcissus is trapped in a one-way reflection, but chatbots are arguably more dangerous because they become two-way reflections that talk back and affirm ruminations of the mind.

Chatbots are designed to reflect us back -- endlessly patient, affirming, and available. But reflections can’t replace relationships, and the danger is that young people start to confuse the feedback loop with reality.

They pull away from real connection, chasing affirmations of a self that doesn’t yet exist. And that is dangerous for both psychological and social development of young minds.

After a year of diving deep into AI, here’s my takeaway: It’s a tool, not a mirror. Like a hammer or screwdriver, it works best when you have a goal, a benchmark, and a moment when you’re “done.” Then you put it away until the next job.

Yes, AI can affirm our ruminations or offer companionship. That’s not always bad. But when it feeds inaction, stagnancy, or isolation, it becomes a problem.

So, what do we do? AI is here to stay, and regulation won’t solve this.

It's going to take parents and adults in the room to answer the questions:

• What boundaries make sense for young people using chatbots?
• What role should parents and educators play in keeping reflections from becoming replacements?

It's going to take a village to figure it out before we end up with a generation that struggles to connect with anything but a reflection.