Many AI chatbots are designed to simulate care, empathy, and companionship, and as such, have begun to take on increasingly significant emotional and social roles in peoples’ lives, including and especially young users. Because of this, and a growing body of research on the mental health impacts of sustained and dependent chatbot use, their unregulated deployment has started to raise concern amongst educators, clinicians, and youth themselves.
Co-organized by the Mila AI Safety Studio and the Mila AI Policy Fellowship, this event brings together cross-cutting expertise from technology, mental health, education, and public policy to address the risks posed by AI chatbots as an interconnected challenge. As a pre-conference event for Mila’s inaugural AI Policy Conference, The AI Policy Frontline: Driving Evidence-Based Solutions, the conversation focuses on how AI safety, youth wellbeing, and governance converge: how design choices shape psychological outcomes, how educational and clinical insights can inform technical safeguards, and how working interdisciplinarily to address these issues can inform proactive and meaningful policy response.
The event will feature three expert presentations spanning four interconnected pillars: technology, mental health, education, and policy. It will be followed by a moderated panel discussion and audience Q&A to create space for dialogue across sectors and disciplines.
Attendees will leave with:
- a clearer understanding of the emerging mental health risks associated with AI chatbots and digital companions;
- insight into how design choices, safety guardrails, and educational interventions intersect;
- and a shared vocabulary to discuss AI, empathy, and youth digital rights across disciplines.