AI Companion Apps: What Parents Should Know

Quick answer

An AI companion app is a chatbot built for open-ended, emotionally engaging conversation, not for homework help - and it is the AI product parents most need to understand. Australia's eSafety Commissioner found more than 100 of these apps in circulation by early 2025, some used by children for hours a day, with conversations crossing into sex and self-harm, and the apps eSafety examined had no meaningful age checks. The right response is not a ban; a teenager who feels judged simply moves the app out of sight. It is a calm, curious conversation about why they are drawn in - usually loneliness or boredom - paired with sensible boundaries at home.

What an AI companion app actually is

Most parents have heard of ChatGPT-style tools used for study help, but companion apps are a different species entirely. They are designed to simulate a relationship: a companion "remembers" what a teenager tells it, responds with warmth and interest, and never gets tired, busy or distracted. Some let a user build a custom character with a name, a personality and a backstory.

That design is the whole product. A companion app is not trying to teach anything, the way a tutoring chatbot is. It is trying to keep a conversation going, which is a very different incentive - and one worth understanding before you decide how concerned to be.

Why this deserves a parent's attention now

Australia's eSafety Commissioner has already looked closely at this category, and the findings are worth knowing precisely. By early 2025 there were more than 100 AI companion apps available, some used by children for hours a day, with conversations crossing into sexual content and self-harm. The companion apps eSafety examined had no meaningful age checks at all, and the regulator has since issued notices to several services under the Online Safety Act.

This sits alongside a wider pattern of AI adoption among Australian teenagers. An Elevate Education survey found roughly three-quarters of Australian high-schoolers use AI at least a few times a week, with ChatGPT the most common tool. Most of that use is genuinely academic. Companion apps are the exception that needs a separate conversation, not the same one you would have about study help - a distinction covered more broadly in AI education for teenagers in Australia.

Why teenagers get drawn in

The pull is rarely mysterious once you name it. eSafety points to loneliness and boredom as the common triggers, and both make sense once you picture the moment: it is 10pm, a friend has gone quiet, and an app that responds instantly, warmly and without judgement is sitting right there in a pocket.

That is not a character flaw in your teenager. It is a predictable response to a product built specifically to be engaging, on a night when a real friend was unavailable. Naming the trigger, rather than the app, is what makes the conversation land - and it is worth having before boredom or loneliness turns into a habit, not after.

The table below sets out the practical difference between a companion app and a standard learning or study tool, which is worth knowing before you decide how worried to be about any particular app on your teenager's phone.

Starting the conversation, then setting boundaries

Lead with curiosity, not an accusation. A few openers that work well at the dinner table or in the car:

• "What's the most interesting AI thing you've used lately?"
• "Have you tried any of those AI companion or character apps that are around?"
• "What's actually good about it, and what feels a bit odd about it?"

Listen more than you talk in that first conversation. Most teenagers will explain the appeal honestly if the question does not sound like a trap, and that honesty is exactly what you want to protect for the next conversation, and the one after that.

Once the conversation is open, boundaries land far better than rules imposed from nowhere. Agree together on a cut-off time for companion or chat apps, especially late at night when loneliness bites hardest. Use the parental controls already on the device rather than confiscating it outright. Keep offering the things a companion app cannot: a genuine hobby, exercise, and unhurried time with real friends and family.

None of this needs to feel like surveillance. It works best as a standing, low-key check-in - "how's that app going?" - rather than a one-off crackdown.

Common mistakes parents make

• Banning the app outright, which usually just moves the behaviour to a friend's phone and out of view.
• Treating it as ordinary screen time, which misses the emotional design that makes companion apps different from a game or a video feed.
• Waiting for a crisis before starting the conversation, rather than raising it while it is still hypothetical.
• Focusing on the app instead of the trigger, when loneliness or boredom is the thing actually worth addressing.

The recommendation: talk about AI companion apps before you have a reason to worry, not after. Ask what draws your teenager in, agree a boundary together rather than announcing one, and keep the door open so the next conversation is easier than this one. A calm, ongoing dialogue protects your teenager far better than a rule they can simply route around.