Adolescents in the Age of Artificial Intelligence: Navigating the Risks of Overuse

Abstract

Adolescence is a sensitive developmental period marked by heightened neurobiological plasticity, identity formation, and socio-emotional learning. As generative artificial intelligence becomes embedded in adolescents’ daily lives, existing frameworks for digital harm, built around screen time and social media exposure, may not capture its distinct psychological affordances. This study aims to reframe adolescent AI overuse as a qualitatively distinct developmental and relational exposure, rather than an extension of screen time. Using a narrative synthesis of developmental science, relationship science, and documented public cases published between 2018 and 2025, the study examines how AI reliance intersects with five developmental domains: emotional regulation, social learning, identity formation, autonomy, and attachment. The synthesis identifies recurring conceptual risks  externalized coping, recalibrated relational expectations, externally validated identity, deferred autonomy, and displaced attachment while noting that direct empirical evidence in adolescent samples remains sparse. The study proposes a working definition of adolescent AI overuse and an interim clinical, educational, and policy framework, offering a conceptual foundation for the empirical research this area still lacks.