How US Youth Use AI Chatbots: Conversation Patterns from Naturalistic Keystroke Data

Youth are increasingly engaging with generative artificial intelligence (genAI) chatbots, yet little is known about the nature of their interactions. This study used naturalistic behavioral observations of keystrokes typed into genAI mobile apps to characterize the topics youth discuss with chatbots. Participants were 3,363 U.S. youth ages ≤9–17 years using the Aura parental monitoring app who engaged in some degree of genAI use. Text input was coded using a large language model with human review. Most youth used genAI as a functional tool for problem-solving and information seeking. However, a substantial minority engaged in conversations involving violence, romantic and sexual role-play, and friendship. Younger users showed higher rates of potentially inappropriate content than older teens. Although general-purpose applications (e.g., ChatGPT) were mostly used for task assistance, they were also popular for socioemotional purposes. More research is needed examining psychosocial impacts of AI interactions and safety-focused design features.