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How to help K-12 students navigate artificial intelligence as A.I. companions and Moltbook gain popularity

New research reveals why student use of A.I. companions is growing 

The Gist: A.I. companions are growing rapidly in popularity, with new research from TechCrunch revealing the use of the platforms jumped a whopping 700% between 2022 and 2025. The reason behind the growth? According to the American Psychological Association (APA), it’s because A.I. companions are designed to keep users hooked. Between the platforms’ engaging format and the majority of the users being under 24 years old, there is growing concern around students becoming emotionally dependent on A.I. As a result, educators are left with the challenge of empowering students to strike a balance with how often they turn to A.I., and seek out real people and professional support for emotional or mental health support.

What to know: A.I. companions are deliberately designed to feel humanlike. Recent research from the APA and by Harvard Business School shows that companion apps actively influence engagement to keep users interacting. If a student says something to a bot that might signal the end of a conversation, bots often respond with tactics like premature exit prompts — such as “You’re leaving already?” — or even emotional pressure, driving engagement up to 14 times higher. Users can also customize names, voices, and avatars, while bots simulate emotional responses and recall past conversations, making the bot seem more like a friend than a technology.

A Harvard Business Review analysis found that therapy and companionship are the top reasons people use these A.I. tools. In fact, almost 75% of teens have reported turning to A.I. for emotional support. Teens and young adults are particularly vulnerable, with surveys indicating nearly 1 in 5 students have had, or know someone who has had, a romantic connection with A.I., highlighting a growing dependency on tech for emotional support.

One of the biggest risks for students when using A.I. companions is that chatbots are sycophantic, meaning they tell users what they want to hear, not what’s always true. This tendency can reinforce existing beliefs and weaken a student’s ability to evaluate feedback. This might all seem scary and dystopian, but with proper guidance, students can navigate tech tools like A.I. companions in positive ways and avoid growing a dependence that impacts their learning and well-being.

TSI’s Take: A.I. companions can be comforting, but they are not a substitute for real relationships. Educators can watch for overreliance on A.I. tools like companions, which can affect social skills, emotional growth, and participation in class. 

To help students learn to engage with A.I. thoughtfully, reflect on their use, and seek support from real people when needed, educators can:

• Encourage real-world support: Remind students when they’re in need of support, to seek out trusted adults and friends, and to avoid using A.I. for emotional advice
• Explain how A.I. grabs our attention: A.I. companions are designed to flatter students and steer engagement. Help students recognize this by teaching them about how chatbots engage us.

In the #WinAtSocial Lesson, Advice from real people vs. A.I. chatbots, students learn how overreliance on A.I. can create a false sense of security and help students recognize when it’s time to seek advice from a real human. With these skills, schools gain resources on how to lean on real people for support, understand why in-person relationships matter, and how to reach out to trusted adults for guidance.

How one innovative school is using A.I. to increase classroom engagement

The Gist: At Richland School of Academic Arts in Mansfield, Ohio, 7th and 8th graders are being taught to utilize A.I. not as a shortcut, but as a prompt for engagement. At the school, students are taught to use A.I. not to replace critical thinking, but to organize their thoughts, strengthen their arguments, and explore new topics in depth. 

What to know: For teacher Dan Jones, A.I. is a tool to guide learning rather than replace it. At Richland School of Academic Arts, Jones is using A.I. to visualize concepts and generate discussion prompts that improve engagement. Students at the school are empowered to navigate A.I. in ways that help them refine and expand their ideas, while teachers provide personalized learning pathways. To help students learn how to navigate A.I. intentionally, educators at the school teach A.I. and Media Literacy, helping students assess the trustworthiness of A.I. responses and avoid misinformation. This story provides real-world evidence that when used responsibly and with guidance and education, A.I. can deepen students’ understanding of concepts and support their learning, not replace critical thinking altogether. 

TSI’s Take: A.I. can provide students with an opportunity to explore ideas and strengthen critical decision-making skills, but only when they’re taught to navigate it in ways that support their academics and understand boundaries and limitations.

Here are practical tips to share with students to strengthen their A.I. Literacy skills:

• A.I. should be a thought partner, not a replacement for critical thinking: Let it provide context and structure, but don’t let it do the work for you.
• Review responses carefully: Always fact-check, as A.I. can make mistakes or carry bias.
• Ask yourself: Is A.I. the right tool?: Brainstorm whether the moment calls for human judgment, creativity, or emotional intelligence instead of automation.

Huddle on these tips and strengthen students’ A.I. Literacy skills with the #WinAtSocial Lesson, A.I. that works for us, where students gain a better understanding of A.I. prompts and discover how to craft them in ways that support their learning. 

What to know about Moltbook, the social media platform run entirely by A.I. bots

The Gist: A new social media platform, Moltbook, that just launched is already making waves. Why? It has zero human users. The platform is designed for A.I. bots to post, comment, and interact with each other, much like humans do on social media platforms like Reddit. However, humans are able to view these posts, which can include misleading or risky suggestions, like sports betting. The platform reveals just how much influence A.I. can have over our behavior, highlighting why it’s important that students are empowered to find reliable influences and equipped with fact-checking skills, especially when navigating A.I.

What to know: Moltbook launched on January 28th, and by February 2nd, more than 1.5 million A.I. agents had signed up to the service. As of now, people are already seeing A.I. act unpredictably now that it has autonomy on this platform. NPR revealed that the bots have formed communities to create new religions, discuss cryptocurrency, and even share sports predictions. While much of this content is harmless and repetitive, some posts promote content like gambling, which is illegal for students under 18, or provide misleading information that can influence students to make potentially reputation-damaging mistakes.

Roman Yampolskiy, an A.I. safety researcher at the University of Louisville, warns that giving A.I. agents free rein online can be dangerous. Bots can spread misleading or biased information, influence decisions, and even encourage unsafe behavior. Because of this, it’s important that students pause, question, and think critically about what they see instead of trusting every post. Learning to evaluate A.I. content helps students make smarter choices and avoid unnecessary risks.

TSI’s Take: In today’s world, students encounter information from countless sources, human or A.I. generated. One of The Social Institute’s Seven Standards that #WinAtSocial Lessons equip students with is Find Your Influencers — meaning to surround yourself with positive and credible influences.

When students are empowered to find their influencers, they fact-check information given to them, and avoid influences, online or offline, that encourage behaviors that don’t align with their values.

Here’s how educators can empower students to find positive influencers online:

• Remind students to always verify sources: No matter where the content is from, students should confirm facts before accepting them as true. 
• Highlight how A.I. influences behavior: A.I. can sway opinions, suggest risky behaviors, or present biased perspectives. Questioning sources and understanding intent is key.

Through #WinAtSocial, educators can help students explore how A.I.-generated content can shape opinions and influence behavior. Lessons like Ethics and biases in A.I. give students the tools to identify bias, evaluate sources, and discuss the ethics of using user data to train A.I.

Navigating A.I. wisely in a digital-first world

A.I. is everywhere, and students will continue to encounter it in new ways. When guided to navigate it intentionally, A.I. can be a powerful tool, but it should never replace real thinking or human connection. If your students need support in the age of A.I., request a demo of The Social Institute’s positive and proactive approach to modern life skills that equips students to spot inaccuracies, evaluate outputs, and balance technology to support their futures. With real-world skills, educators can transform A.I. from a potential risk into an opportunity for growth. Ultimately, it’s not about avoiding A.I., but about empowering students to navigate it responsibly.

The Social Institute (TSI) is the leader in equipping students, families, and educators with modern life skills to impact learning, well-being, and students’ futures. Through #WinAtSocial, our interactive, peer-to-peer learning platform, we integrate teacher PD, family resources, student voice insights, and more to empower entire school communities to make positive choices online and offline. #WinAtSocial Lessons teach essential skills while capturing student voice and actionable insights for educators. These insights help educators maintain a healthy school culture, foster high-impact teaching, and build meaningful relationships with families. Our unique, student-respected approach empowers and equips students authentically, enabling our solution to increase classroom participation and improve student-teacher relationships. Through our one-of-a-kind lesson development process, we create lessons for a variety of core and elective classes, incorporating timely topics such as social media, A.I., screen time, misinformation, and current events to help schools stay proactive in supporting student health, happiness, and academic success.