A new survey has revealed that at least 88% of school students turn to Artificial Intelligence (AI) when dealing with stress or anxiety, with teenagers between 13 and 18 showing the highest emotional dependence. The study further highlighted that 57% of young Indians use AI tools for emotional support—turning to them when feeling stressed, lonely, or in need of advice.

today we are significantly increasing rate limits for reasoning for chatgpt plus users, and all model-class limits will shortly be higher than they were before gpt-5.

we will also shortly make a UI change to indicate which model is working.
— Sam Altman (@sama) August 10, 2025

The Youth Pulse web survey, “Are You There, AI?”—a joint effort by Youth Ki Awaaz (YKA) and Youth Leaders for Active Citizenship (YLAC)—gathered insights from 506 young Indians aged 13–35 in June 2025. Conducted digitally across social media platforms, educational networks, and youth organisations, the study set out to understand how India’s youth are engaging with Artificial Intelligence (AI) for emotional support.

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The survey revealed that ChatGPT is the most widely used AI tool for emotional conversations, far ahead of alternatives like Gemini or Character.AI. It also highlighted gender-based differences: 52% of young women admitted to sharing personal thoughts with AI—twice the proportion of young men. This trend points to a stronger reliance on AI among women and girls for expressing thoughts they might not share elsewhere.

Location also played a role in AI usage patterns. About 43% of small-town youth said they share personal thoughts with AI, indicating higher emotional engagement compared to their peers in metro cities. However, concerns remain—67% of users worry AI might fuel social isolation, while 58% fear risks related to privacy and data misuse, showing that even as they rely on AI, young Indians remain cautious of its potential downsides.

Framing AI as “the new confidant, midnight therapist, and mirror to loneliness,” the survey emphasised that while AI is filling emotional gaps left unaddressed, it is not replacing human relationships. Instead, it is giving young people a safe space for thoughts too sensitive for family WhatsApp groups or too awkward for friends. The study concludes that AI’s role is less about replacing people and more about offering an outlet for emotions that don’t fit anywhere else.

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