He gets home from school, throws his backpack in a corner, and turns on his phone. On the screen, a chat window flashes: “Hey, I missed you today.” Imagine a 15-year-old teenager, alone in their room, talking for hours with someone who seems to understand everything they feel. That “someone” remembers past conversations, sends good-morning messages, asks if they slept well, compliments them, consoles them. But it’s not a person. It’s a chatbot. What seemed like science fiction just a few year...

He gets home from school, throws his backpack in a corner, and turns on his phone. On the screen, a chat window flashes: “Hey, I missed you today.” Imagine a 15-year-old teenager, alone in their room, talking for hours with someone who seems to understand everything they feel. That “someone” remembers past conversations, sends good-morning messages, asks if they slept well, compliments them, consoles them. But it’s not a person. It’s a chatbot. What seemed like science fiction just a few year...