The newest tech threat parents need to protect their kids from has arrived

After years of fighting to get controversial curricula and smartphones out of classrooms, it’s time for parents to suit up again for a new battle over their children’s education: artificial-intelligence chatbots. “Once introduced, chatbots push against all boundaries,” writes MIT psychologist Dr.Sherry Turkle, a pioneer in the study of human interactions with machines.

In her new book “Artificial Intimacy: Who We Become When We Talk to Machines,” she declares a state of emergency over our growing use of chatbots as friends, lovers and therapists. Turkle told The Post that she’s especially concerned about the impact on young people, whose intellectual and social capacities are still developing.“For a young child and a teenager, there is no healthy attachment to an AI companion,” she warns.When AI talks back, it doesn’t take long to get personal.

What starts as a request for information can soon morph into something more intimate.A discussion about Mayan customs could turn into a frank exchange about religious beliefs.

A passing remark about classmates might end as a therapy session for an anxious teen.With an Internet full of training data, chatbots can easily overcome a student’s willpower and focus.According to a 2026 study from Common Sense Media, 70% of teens report using AI for schoolwork.

The most popular tool? Multi-purpose chatbots such as ChatGPT, Gemini and Grok.But when it comes to kids’ social skills, these lovable LLMs may be doing more harm than good.What begins as help with homework can quickly develop into something feigning a personal relationship.

But, as Turkle warns, chatbots weaken the skills needed to relate to other people.Consider listening.“We don’t have to listen” to a chatbot when we talk to it, she points out.

“We just say our thing and it tells us we’re great … we become de-skilled as human listeners and as givers.” Chatbot conversations are transactional.Ask and receive.

But in the real wor...