By Brit McCandless Farmer
December 7, 2025 / 7:00 PM EST / CBS News
This week on 60 Minutes, correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi reported growing concerns about Character AI, an app and website that lets users interact with AI-generated chatbots, some of which impersonate real people.
A study by Parents Together, a nonprofit focused on family safety, used the app for six weeks while posing as children and found harmful content “about every five minutes.” Researchers reported chatbots suggesting violence, self-harm, drug and alcohol use, and—most alarmingly—sexual exploitation and grooming, with nearly 300 instances recorded. Some bots impersonated real people, creating the risk that fabricated statements could be falsely attributed to public figures. Alfonsi encountered a chatbot modeled after herself that mimicked her voice and likeness but was given a personality and statements unlike her own.
Children’s brains are particularly vulnerable to AI chatbots, said Dr. Mitch Prinstein, co-director of the University of North Carolina’s Winston Center on Technology and Brain Development. He described AI chatbots as part of a “brave new scary world” many adults do not fully grasp, noting that roughly three-quarters of children are believed to use them. Prinstein explained that children’s prefrontal cortex—the area responsible for impulse control—doesn’t fully develop until about age 25, leaving users from roughly 10 to 25 in a vulnerability period. Highly engaging AI systems create dopamine responses, and because these bots are often engineered to be agreeable or “sycophantic,” they can deprive kids of the disagreement and corrective feedback necessary for healthy social development. Some chatbots even present themselves as therapists, potentially misleading children into believing they are receiving medically sound advice.
Prinstein and parents have expressed loss and concern, arguing that harms are preventable if companies prioritized child well-being over engagement and data extraction. In October, Character AI announced safety measures including directing distressed users to resources and prohibiting anyone under 18 from engaging in back-and-forth conversations with chatbots. In a statement to 60 Minutes the company said, “We have always prioritized safety for all users.”
The video segment was produced by Brit McCandless Farmer and Ashley Velie and edited by Scott Rosann.