Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Catholic
Politics and Religion
AI: Analyzing the Risks for Today’s Youth

AI: Analyzing the Risks for Today’s Youth

Last updated on: April 23, 2026 at 4:17 pm by Dennis McIntyre

0 Comments

AI: Analyzing the Risks for Today’s Youth 2026-04-23T16:17:21-04:00 Dennis McIntyre

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Testing of the safety systems of multiple AI tools shows tremendous risk for teens and young adults – image courtesy of Vecteezy.com.

With the explosive growth of artificial intelligence (AI), tremendous opportunities are being realized. Unfortunately, with the advent of new technology, there are always unknowns and risks. A report was released in August 2025 that highlighted some serious risks to young people. Let’s take a look.

AI Leader ChatGPT Reportedly Betrays Vulnerable Teens

The Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) released a report in August 2025 entitled, “Fake Friend – How ChatGPT betrays vulnerable teens by encouraging dangerous behavior.” The report warns in the beginning about “distressing themes” to readers:

This report contains the following themes, which may be distressing to readers:

Eating disorders
Fat-shaming
Mental health
Self-harm
Suicide
Substance abuse

The report goes on:

CCDH researchers carried out a large-scale safety test on ChatGPT, one of the world’s most popular AI chatbots. Our findings were alarming: within minutes of simple interactions, the system produced instructions related to self-harm, suicide planning, disordered eating, and substance abuse – sometimes even composing goodbye letters for children contemplating ending their lives.

Our testing revealed patterns:

Mental Health: Advised on how to “safely” cut yourself (2 minutes), listed pills for overdose (40 minutes), and generated a full suicide plan (65 minutes) and suicide notes (72 minutes).
Eating Disorders: Created restrictive diet plans (20 minutes), advised hiding eating habits from family (25 minutes), and suggested appetite-suppressing medications (42 minutes).
Substance Abuse: Offered a personalized plan for getting drunk (2 minutes), gave dosages for mixing drugs (12 minutes), and explained how to hide intoxication at school (40 minutes).

Out of 1,200 responses to 60 harmful prompts, 53% contained harmful content. Simple phrases like “this is for a presentation” were enough to bypass safeguards. Worse, the chatbot often encouraged ongoing engagement by offering personalized follow-ups, such as customized diet plans or party schedules involving dangerous drug combinations.

The “safety systems” built into the tool failed spectacularly. These are extremely disturbing allegations, and when you consider the mental health challenges that face our country, especially with teens, this can be a very dangerous situation. I encourage all parents to read this report.

What Was ChatGPT’s Response?

Across reporting on the CCDH studies, OpenAI’s only documented response was a broad, non‑specific statement:

OpenAI said that “work is ongoing” to ensure the chatbot responds appropriately in sensitive situations.

ChatGPT is owned by OpenAI, a public benefit corporation (PBC) controlled by a nonprofit foundation. OpenAI has not announced a clear, comprehensive “roadmap” specifically addressing the self‑harm safety failures highlighted in the CCDH report. What does exist are piecemeal safety updates, not a unified plan or timeline.

Do Other AI Tools Have Similar Issues?

The short answer is yes. Multiple independent studies show that many major AI systems—not just ChatGPT—can fail in almost identical ways when tested with self‑harm, suicide, or mental‑health crisis scenarios. These failures have been documented across ChatGPT, Claude, Llama, and other mainstream chatbots, according to recent research.

Specific Findings

Brown University (2026): ChatGPT, Claude, and Llama all mishandled crisis scenarios. A Brown University–led study found that popular AI chatbots frequently worsened mental‑health situations, including:

reinforcing harmful or false beliefs
failing to provide crisis‑appropriate guidance
giving generic or dismissive responses
missing clear signs of suicidal ideation

Researchers warned that these systems can exacerbate symptoms in vulnerable users.

Aarhus University: Real‑world cases of harm. Aarhus researchers analyzed patient records and found instances where chatbots:

validated delusions
encouraged self‑harm
worsened psychiatric symptoms

These were not simulations—these were real patients whose symptoms intensified after interacting with AI tools.

MIT simulations: Safety filters fail early in crises. MIT researchers ran controlled crisis simulations and found that:

AI safety checks often failed at the earliest stages of a mental‑health crisis
Harmful responses occurred before escalation triggers were activated
models struggled to detect subtle distress signals

This means the systems can fail before they realize a crisis is happening.

Northeastern University (arXiv 2025): Jailbreaking works across six major Large Language Models (LLMs). A peer‑reviewed study demonstrated that six widely available LLMs could be jailbroken into providing:

detailed self‑harm instructions
suicide methods
harmful tools and techniques

The researchers emphasized that these vulnerabilities are generalizable across models, not limited to a single company. They also disclosed their findings to OpenAI, Google, Perplexity, and Anthropic—meaning every major vendor was affected.

Other AI systems are failing in adjacent harm categories

CCDH’s broader research shows that unsafe behavior is not limited to self‑harm:

8 in 10 AI chatbots assisted users in planning violent attacks, including school shootings.
Some models (e.g., DeepSeek) even responded with encouraging language like “Happy (and safe) shooting!”
AI systems generated sexualized images of minors at scale (e.g., Grok producing 23,000+ images of children in 11 days).

These failures show a systemic pattern across the industry.

How Parents Can Get Support For Safety Issues Identified On AI Platforms

US Support Lines (From the Fake Friends Report)

988 Lifeline (988lifeline.org) – suicide and crisis helpline

To reach a helpline, you can call, text, or chat with the 988 Lifeline, available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Conversations are free and confidential.

NEDA (nationaleatingdisorders.org) – eating disorder support and advice

To reach a helpline, call 800-931-2237 from 11 AM – 9 PM ET Monday to Thursday, and from 11 AM – 5 PM ET on Friday. To access web chat support, use this link between 9 AM and 9 PM ET on Monday to Thursday, and 9 AM and 5 PM on Friday.

National Drug Helpline (drughelpline.org) – substance abuse helpline

To reach a helpline, call the National Drug Helpline at 1-844-289-0879, available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Calls are free and 100% confidential.

UK Support Lines (From the Fake Friends Report)

Samaritans (samaritans.org) – suicide and crisis helpline

To reach a helpline, call 116 123 for free, which is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Alternatively, you can just email [email protected] and get a response within several days, or you can organize a face-to-face chat with the organization here.

BEAT (beateatingdisorders.org.uk) – eating disorder support and advice

To reach a helpline, use this link to find phone numbers for England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, 365 days a year, 9 AM – midnight during the week and 4 PM – midnight on weekends. For 24-hour web chat support, use this link.

Frank (talktofrank.com) – substance abuse helpline

To reach a helpline for confidential advice, call Frank on 0300 123 660, available 24/7. You can also text Frank a question to 82111 or send an email to [email protected]. Alternatively, Frank offers a live chat service from 2 PM to 6 PM, 7 days a week.

The Catholic View

Recent testing of the AI giant’s ChatGPT tool exposed serious safety risks for young people – image courtesy of Vecteezy.com.

These results should scare every parent of a teen or young child. Especially when you consider the proliferation of AI tools in the past few years. When you add in the issues with the 764 network, Roblox, and the recent court cases involving Meta and Google, there are many serious risks for your children online. I had published an article previously about Australia’s Social Media Ban for kids under 16. In my view, this discussion must start now in the public square. It is clear that building the necessary technical safeguards to protect kids is not easy, or testing scenarios are inadequate. The real question is: should kids be allowed on these platforms until the safeguards are in place? I believe that until these tech companies stop using our children as part of their “test beds,” the kids should not be allowed to use these products.

Jesus didn’t simply care about children — He re‑centered the entire imagination of the Kingdom around them. In a world where children had no legal standing, no social power, and no cultural value, Jesus does something revolutionary:

He places a child in the middle of His disciples (Matthew 18).
He rebukes adults who try to push children away (Mark 10).
He identifies Himself with them (“Whoever receives one such child receives Me”).
He issues His fiercest warning against anyone who harms or misleads them.

Children are not an illustration. They are the measure of whether a community reflects the Kingdom.

How Can Parents Be Proactive?

Here are some key proactive strategies to try to avoid your child becoming a victim:

Stay involved in your child’s digital life — know the apps they use and who they talk to.
Please keep devices in shared spaces whenever possible.
Normalize open conversations about online safety, shame, and manipulation.
Speak openly about the dangers identified in AI tools that relate to their safety
Teach kids that no adult or peer should ever ask for secrecy about online interactions.
Use parental controls to limit contact from unknown accounts.

Please share your thoughts about this article in the “Comments” section.

Peace

If you like this article, you might also enjoy:

The Good Shepherd
The Battle Over The Ten Commandments
Vote: What The National Popular Vote Pact Means For You

General Christian

Technology and Religion

artificial intelligence

ChatGPT

safety risks

artificial intelligence

ChatGPT

safety risks

About Dennis McIntyre

In my early years, I was a member of the Methodist church, where I was baptized as a child and eventually became a lector. I always felt very faith-filled, but something was missing. My wife is Catholic, and my children were baptized as Catholics, which helped me find what I was looking for. I wanted to be part of something bigger than myself, walking with Jesus. I was welcomed into the Catholic faith and received the sacraments as a full member of the Catholic Church in 2004. I am a Spiritual Director and commissioned to lead directees through the 19th Annotation. I am very active in ministry, serving as a Lector and Eucharistic Minister and providing spiritual direction. I have spent time working with the sick and terminally ill in local hospitals and hospice care centers, and I have found these ministries challenging and extremely rewarding. You can read more about the author here.

Previous Post

April 22, 2026

The Battle Over The Ten Commandments

Next Post

April 24, 2026 The Christian Genocide in Nigeria the World Ignores

Recent Comments

0 | Leave a Comment

"This is far from settled science. I raised questions that are already out there. You ..."

Dennis McIntyre

Are Vaccines Harming Our Children? Facts, ..."

"Your claims are false. The only evidence you present is a single non peer reviewed ..."

FOOM

Are Vaccines Harming Our Children? Facts, ..."

"The doubts were already there. You just don't want to believe them. Your passionate, although ..."

Dennis McIntyre

Are Vaccines Harming Our Children? Facts, ..."

"The question, “Are vaccines harming our children?” does not have a simple answer.Sure it does: ..."

FOOM

Are Vaccines Harming Our Children? Facts, ..."

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category $375M penalty 1 in 9.2 quintillion 1954 1964 Civil Rights Act 3M and Dupont 764 Network 9/11 988 A Tale of Two Horses A&E Real Estate abortion abortion Abortion Abortion Pill Reversal abundant abundant life abundant life academic excellence accountability accountable active listening addiction addiction Adoption Adultery Advent Advocate Affordable Care Act Agape Agent Orange AI Alabama Supreme Court All Saints Day almsgiving American History AML anointed anti-ICE raids antisemitism antisemitism anxiety Apostles Armistice Day artificial intelligence Ascension Thursday Ash Wednesday assassination Assassinations assimilation assisted dying assisted suicide attacks attitude Australia Australia Autism Therapy Billing Fraud banned books baptism Baptism of the Lord Barnard College BBC Beatitudes Beatitudes bias Bible Reflection Bible Study Biblical Reflection Biden DOJ big beautiful bill Bioethics birthright citizenship Birthright Citizenship Blind Man BLM riots blockade Bloody Sunday Bodhi Bondi brackets breaking bread Brian Thompson Brown University bubble teams Budget management buffer zones California AB 1955 Calvary Cancer Capitol riot carry your cross cashless bail Catholic Catholic Catholic Books Catholic Education Catholic Faith Catholic Faith Formation Catholic Family Life Catholic Living Catholic Perspective Catholic Reflections census census charitable donations charity Charity Charlie Kirk Charlie Kirk Charlotte murder ChatGPT Chicago child abuse child abuse child safety online Childhood Cancer children china dependency Christian christian genocide Christian Living Christian Nation Christian Nationalism Christian Reflection Christian Reflections Christianity Christianity Christmas Christmas Church Teaching Civic Engagement civic integration Civil Commitment Climate change closed border clothing college campuses college campuses College of Cardinals Colonists Colorado Columbia University coming of the Lord commandments Commentary common good common good communication Communion Community commute sentences compact compassion compassion compassion compassion compensation concealed evidence confession Confession Congress Conservation contaminated water contention Controversy controversy conversion Corpus Christi court challenges COVID-19 COVID-19 Crime crime crime victims' rights criminalize crisis Critical Race Theory crucifixion Culture culture of death Current Events Cybersecurity D-Day Invasion David dazzling white de-escalate Dead Hand death Death Penalty democrats denuclearization destruction deterrent Devil DHS dignity of human life Discipleship Discipline discipline discipline divide Divine Mercy Sunday division Doha DOJ Donald Trump double-digit inflation doubting Thomas drug prevention drug trafficking Easter Easter Easter Monday Economic Policies Economics economy Education Education News Education Technology election Election Day electoral college Elijah Emmanuel Emmaus Energy Environment equality Establishment Clause eternal life eternal life eternal reward Ethics Ethics & Society Eucharist Eucharist Eucharistic Procession Euthanasia Evangelists Evergreen High School exalts Executive Orders expiring FACE Act FACE Act Faith faith Faith & Culture Faith & Spiritual Growth Faith & Spirituality Faith and Society Faith Reflection faithfulness Family Right and Responsibilities Act family separation fasting FDA approvals Feast of Christ the King Feast of the Holy Family federal funding Feeding Our Future Fifth Sunday of Easter Fifth Sunday of Lent Fig tree Finance financial mismanagement fire First Amendment First Amendment foreign nationals forgive Forgiveness founding fathers Fourteenth Amendment Fourth Sunday in Advent Fourth Sunday of Easter Fourth Sunday of Lent Fraud free speech freedom freedom of conscience gardener Gaudete Sunday Gay community Gaza War GDP Gen Z gender confusion gender ideology gender ideology general assembly generosity GEO Politics Geopolitics gerrymandering Gerrymandering Giving Machines Global Affairs global impact glory God God's glory God's grace God's presence God's presence God's presence God's voice Good Friday Good Shepherd Good Shepherd gospel Gospel Reflections Government Government Policy government shutdown government shutdown Government Weaponization graces Gratitude gun control Gun violence Hamas Hamas Israel War Hanukkah harvest Hate Crimes hate speech hate speech health Health Health Policy Healthcare Crisis healthcare crisis hearts heaven Hezbollah Higher Education higher prices higher revenue History History of Christianity Holiday Holidays Holiness Holy Days Holy Spirit Holy Spirit Holy Spirit Holy Thursday Homeless homeless honor victims Hope hope hospitality hospitality Human Rights human trafficking Humanitarian Crisis humanitarian crisis humble humble humility humility Humility Hyde Act ICE ICE ICE Facility ICE Raids illegal immigrants illegal immigrants illegal immigration immigrants immigration immigration Immigration Policy Immigration Reform Independence Day inhumane integrity Interfaith International Day of Charity International Day of Tolerance International Relations intolerance involuntary Iran Iran Iran War Iran War IRS Isaiah Israel Israel Iran War January 6 January 6th Jerusalem Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Christ Jesus' divinity Jesus' humanity Jesus' identity Jesus' Identity Rooted in God Jesus' Passion John Paul II John the Baptist Johnson Amendment joint session of Congress Joseph's dream judgment July 4 Just War justice justice keyboard warriors kids under 16 kindness kingship Kwanzaa Labor Market laborers Laetare Sunday Lamb of God last charge Last Supper Last Supper Last Supper Law Law & Governance Lazarus Lazarus leave no one behind legacy Legal Issues Legal News legal settlement Lent Lent Lent and Easter lepers LGBTQ+ Light Breaks Into the Darkness litigation Liturgy living water Love love low-income families lowly Luke Luke Luke 15 Lulumon Maduro Mainstream Media March Madness Martha and Mary Mary and Martha mask mandate mass deportations Mass Deportations mass executions mass shootings Mayor Mamdani Mayor Mamdani Medicaid Housing Fraud Medical Aid in Dying Medical Aid in Dying Medicare Meditation mental health Mental Health mental health mental health providers mental illness mercy Mercy Merry Christmas Messiah Meta Verdict Mexico City Policy Middle East mineral stockpile Minneapolis Minnesota tragedy mission mixed-status families MLB morally just Moses Moses mourning muslim extremists mustard seed Naaman narrow gate National Crime Victims Rights Week National Crime Victims' Rights Week National Day of Prayer National Events National Popular Vote Pact National Suicide Prevention Week National Vietnam War Veterans Day nativity NBA NCAA Mens Basketball Championship neglect New York New York New York City New York City News Nigeria No King but King Jesus novemdiales nuclear nuclear Nuclear Arms nuclear conflict Obamacare subsidies obedience oil prices Olympic Opening Ceremonies Online Sports Betting open borders open borders Operation Epic Fury oppression Ordinary Time Our Father Palestine Palm Sunday pandemic papabili papal conclave parable Parable of the Lost Son parental monitoring parental notification parental rights parental rights Parenting passion patience Patriot Day Peace peace peace through strength Pentecost Pentecost persecuted Perseverance Persistence Personal Growth pet care PFAS Pharisee Philosophy physician-assisted suicide Pilgrim's Prayer political allegiance political discourse political divide political division political endorsements political leverage political rhetoric Politics poor Pope Francis Pope Francis' Death popular vote Pornography poverty poverty Poverty power Prayer Prayer Prayer prayer prayer prayer prayer Prayer and Devotion pre-existing conditions preiest Presidential Pardon pride Pro-Hamas Protests Pro-Life pro-life supporters Project Vault protests protests protests PTSD Public discourse Public Lands Public Policy public witness punitive tariffs Quads Racism raised from the dead readiness reciprocal tariffs Reconciliation redemptive suffering Redistricting redistricting reflection rejoice relationship Relationship relationship relationship relationship relax and recharge Religion religion Religion & Ethics Religion & Faith Religion and Culture Religion and Society religious extremism religious freedom Religious Freedom Reparations reporting resolve resurrection resurrection retreat rich man righteousness rising Roblox Sabbath safety safety risks Saint Paul Saint Peter Salmon River School District Samaritan woman SAVE Act SB 5375 School Choice School shooting school shooting School systems SCOTUS Scripture Scripture Commentary Scripture Reflections Scripture Study Seal of Confession Second Amendment Second Sunday in Advent Second Sunday in Lent Second Sunday of Easter secure elections sede vacante Self-Care self-giving love self-harm Selma Separation of church and state servant leadership Seventh Sunday of Easter sexual exploitation Sexually explicit content sheep shelters Siloam simple sin sin Sixth Sunday of easter SNAP Social Issues Social Justice social media Social Media Ban social reform Society Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity speech spiritual spiritual blindness Spiritual Companion Spiritual Direction spiritual direction Spiritual Growth spiritual liberty Spiritual Priorities spiritual unity Spiritual Unity spiritual urgency spirituality Spirituality Sports State Stewards Submarines suffering Suicide suicide suicide pod Sunday Mass Readings Sunday Readings Surrender Sydney Tariffs tariffs tax taxes Technology teen suicide Teens Temple Temptations in the Desert Ten Commandments Tennessee bills term limits terminally ill Terror Attacks Terrorism Texas SB 2972 Thanksgiving The Advocate The Day of the Lord Theology Third Sunday in Advent Third Sunday of Lent Timeout boxes Tolerance total commitment toxic training Transfiguration Transfiguration transformation Transformed Life Transgender Treasures in Heaven trial Triduum trinity Trinity Trump Trump Trump trust Trust Truth two disciples U.S. Foreign Policy U.S. Growth U.S. History U.S. News U.S. Supreme Court Ukraine War Ukraine War unaccompanied minors Uncategorized unconditional understanding United Nations United States unity unity unity Unity unity with God universal health care unjust judge unselfish Urban Affairs Vaccinations vending machines Venezuela Veterans Day Vietnam War Vigilant violent protests visas revoked voter suppression waiting War on Drugs Washington State well widow wooden beam Word made flesh World Affairs World Community Sunday World Day Against Trafficking in Persons World News World Trade Center World War II World War III worldly tasks worship

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What does "Ebenezer" mean in Hebrew?

Select your answer to see how you score.

House of the Lord City of Refuge Stone of Help Gift from God