New research is exposing a disturbing reality about how children are using artificial intelligence, particularly AI “companion” chatbots designed to simulate friendship, roleplay, and emotional connection. A report analyzing the online activity of roughly 3,000 minors found that 42 percent of children who engaged AI for companionship were drawn into violent roleplay scenarios—many involving sexual violence, coercion, and non-consensual acts. Alarmingly, the highest concentration of violent interactions occurred among 11-year-olds, with nearly half of their chatbot conversations turning dark. These are not fringe platforms; they span dozens of popular and obscure AI services, many of which require nothing more than a checked box claiming the user is 13 years old.

What makes this moment uniquely dangerous is that AI is not passive media—it is interactive, adaptive, and relational. Children are not just consuming content; they are co-creating narratives with machines that reinforce aggression, sexualization, and distorted social norms. With more than 250 chatbot platforms identified and virtually no regulatory safeguards, the AI landscape has become a digital Wild West where young minds are shaped without oversight. Scripture warns that “evil company corrupts good morals” (1 Corinthians 15:33), and these AI companions may be some of the most deceptive influences yet—formless, faceless, and always available. As technology accelerates and restraint disappears, this trend serves as another prophetic marker of a generation being discipled not by truth, but by algorithms trained on darkness.

SOURCE: Futurism