What Do We Know About AI Companions and Their Impact on Young People?/Webinar by by Celeste Campos-Castillo, PhD

Dr. Celeste Campos-Castillo will present a webinar, What Do We Know About AI Companions and Their Impact on Young People? In this talk, Dr. Campos‑Castillo will define artificial intelligence (AI) companions and discuss what we currently know about how young people are using AI companions and the benefits, risks, and best ways to keep young people safe. She will draw connections to trends in young people’s mental health and recent deaths by suicide among young people that have been linked to AI companion use. Xiaofang Chen, Co-Founder and President of the Alan Hu Foundation, is grateful for the support of Tri-Valley Nonprofit Alliance, a contributor who has made this presentation possible.

Celeste Campos‑Castillo, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Media and Information at Michigan State University. She studies how digital technologies, from AI companions to social media, shape the health and well‑being of children and adolescents. She partners with young people to design the research she conducts and the resulting solutions. She is also a parent, which fuels her commitment to helping families, educators, and communities understand the rapidly changing digital world that young people are navigating. Her goal is to provide research that leads to practical, compassionate approaches that support young people.

The free webinar will be held on Tuesday, April 14, 2026, at 5:30 – 6:30 pm PT via Zoom. It will include 15 minutes for questions and answers following Dr. Campos-Castillo’s presentation. To receive the Zoom meeting link, please RSVP by April 13, 2026, at: https://alanhufoundation.org/. Participants may join beginning at 5:15 pm. The Mental Health Association for Chinese Communities at https://www.mhacc-usa.org will partially fund simultaneous Chinese interpretation. Simultaneous Spanish interpretation will be provided with support from Tri-Valley Nonprofit Alliance.

The Alan Hu Foundation was created by Xiaofang Chen and Chih-Ching Hu in memory of their son, Alan. He passed away due to mental disorders in 2018 at the age of 15. Their mission is to promote mental health, raise awareness and remove stigma surrounding psychiatric disorders, and to support fundamental research for cures.

For further information and to support the Alan Hu Foundation, please visit the website: https://alanhufoundation.org/please-help