In Edition 1, we looked at what teenagers are using AI for.
Most of it is reassuring.
But something changes at around 15–16. And it matters.
WHERE WE LEFT OFF
At around age 15–16, a growing minority of teenagers are more likely to start using AI as someone to talk to.
The age gap in black and white
Here's what Pew's December 2025 data actually shows when you split by age:
Source: Pew Research Centre, December 2025. Age-group breakdown from appendix data.
That's not a marginal difference between 14 and 15 years of age. Older teens are more embedded, more habitual, and the data suggests more likely to have moved past the homework use case.
Common Sense Media's own analysis also flags 15–17-year-olds as the dominant companion app users. The 16% casual conversation and 12% emotional support figures from Pew also skew toward that older band.
What the data suggests next is the part parents rarely see.
What actually happens at night is the part almost nobody talks about: