Experts are advising parents and pediatricians to start chatting with kids about how they should -- or shouldn't -- use AI chatbots for mental health, as new data from the RAND Corporation shows increased use among adolescents aged 12-21. According to the report, published in JAMA Pediatrics, a fifth of young people use AI chatbots, such as ChatGPT or Gemini, when they feel sad, angry, nervous or stressed. This is a 40% increase from 13% who said they did so in a similar study RAND ran in 2025.