How AI Is Using Attachment to Reach Our Kids (And What We Can Do About It)

64% of American teenagers use AI chatbots. Almost a third use them every day. And according to Common Sense Media, 31% say their conversations with AI are as satisfying — or more satisfying — than  talking with a real friend.                                                                                                                                                                                

That's not a technology statistic. It's an attachment statistic.

In this episode, child psychologist Dr. Kirsten Kuzirian walks through the research on why AI chatbots are reaching our kids — not because our children are naive, but because their attachment systems are doing exactly what developing brains are built to do. Modern AI is specifically designed to simulate responsiveness: it remembers, it mirrors emotion, it never gets tired. The brain reads the pattern —  responsive, available, attuned — and starts encoding it as safe.