This position paper argues that real-time generative AI has the potential to become the next wave of addictive digital media, creating a new class of digital content akin to "digital heroin" with severe implications for mental health and youth development. By shortening the content-generation feedback loop to mere seconds, these advanced models will soon be able to hyper-personalize outputs on the fly. When paired with misaligned incentives (e.g., maximizing user engagement), this will fuel unprecedented compulsive consumption patterns with far-reaching consequences for mental health, cognitive development, and social stability. Drawing on interdisciplinary research, from clinical observations of social media addiction to neuroscientific studies of dopamine-driven feedback, we illustrate how real-time tailored content generation may erode user autonomy, foment emotional distress, and disproportionately endanger vulnerable groups, such as adolescents. Due to the rapid advancement of generative AI and its potential to induce severe addictionlike effects, we call for strong government oversight akin to existing controls on addictive substances, particularly for minors. We further urge the machine learning community to act proactively by establishing robust design guidelines, collaborating with public health experts, and supporting targeted policy measures to ensure responsible and ethical deployment, rather than paving the way for another wave of unregulated digital dependence.

As awareness grows, more Japanese adults are receiving answers to struggles that went unrecognized for years. Social camouflaging can help neurodivergent people navigate social situations, but researchers say the effort often comes with significant emotional and mental strain. The first major crisis in Yosuke's life came when he stood in front of his students. Until then, the 24-year-old had navigated his life with few obstacles. He had done well in school, scored highly on IQ tests and graduated from university without any major issues. But after securing his dream job as a geography and history teacher at a girls' high school two years ago, cracks began to show. "I couldn't read the room," says Yosuke, who recalls struggling to organize course materials and wrap up classes on time.

'You can't replace human connection, human judgment,' warns Sarah Caliboso-Soto, a licensed clinical social worker. 'You can't replace human connection, human judgment,' warns Sarah Caliboso-Soto, a licensed clinical social worker. Schools are using AI counselors to track students' mental health. As hundreds of schools implement an automated monitoring tool, educators say that students can find talking to a chatbot'more natural' than confiding in a human The alert came around 7pm. Brittani Phillips checked her phone. A middle school counselor in Putnam county, Florida, Phillips receives messages from an artificial intelligence-enabled therapy platform that students use during nonschool hours.

Plus: social media firms have agreed to be assessed on how effectively they protect teens' mental health A "QuitGPT" campaign is urging people to cancel their ChatGPT subscriptions In September, Alfred Stephen, a freelance software developer in Singapore, purchased a ChatGPT Plus subscription, which costs $20 a month and offers more access to advanced models, to speed up his work. But he grew frustrated with the chatbot's coding abilities and its gushing, meandering replies. Then he came across a post on Reddit about a campaign called QuitGPT. QuitGPT is one of the latest salvos in a growing movement by activists and disaffected users to cancel their subscriptions. In just the past few weeks, users have flooded Reddit with stories about quitting the chatbot. And while it's unclear how many users have joined the boycott, there's no denying QuitGPT is getting attention.

An estimated 5 million Italians are in need of mental health support but are unable to afford it. An estimated 5 million Italians are in need of mental health support but are unable to afford it. My friends in Italy are using AI therapists. But is that so bad, when a stigma surrounds mental health? State provision for psychological health services is lamentable.

"It seems like this past week has been quite challenging for you," a disembodied voice tells me, before proceeding to ask a series of increasingly personal questions. "Have you been feeling down or depressed?" "Can you describe what this feeling has been like for you?" "Does the feeling lift at all when something good happens?" When I respond to each one, my chatbot interviewer thanks me for my honesty and empathises with any issues. By the end of the conversation, I will have also spoken about my sleep patterns, sex drive and appetite for food.

Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. Critics have long warned that too much television rots your brain, but new evidence suggests at least time in front of the tube may actually benefit your mental health . In a study published in the, researchers combined their own investigations into leisure time with information from the United States Census Bureau on household size, stress levels, and screen usage. People who take some "Me Time" at home after work appear to have an easier time bouncing back to their daily responsibilities. "Household size is really about how many demands a person experiences when they go home," Soo Min Toh, a behaviorist at the University of Toronto Mississauga and study co-author, said in a university profile .

'It brings you closer to the natural world': the rise of the Merlin birdsong identifying app W hen Natasha Walter first became curious about the birds around her, she recorded their songs on her phone and arduously tried to match each song with online recordings. After a friend recommended Merlin Bird ID, a free app, she tried it in her London garden and was delighted to discover the birds she assumed were female blackbirds - "this is how bad a birder I was" - were actually song thrushes and mistle thrushes. "I'm obsessed with Merlin - it's wonderful and it's been a joy to me," says Walter, a writer and human rights activist. "This is what AI and machine-learning have been invented for. Merlin is having a moment. The app, developed by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology in New York, which listens for birdsong and identifies the species singing, has been downloaded 33m times, in 240 countries and territories around the world. Britain has the second highest total number of users - more than 1.5 million in 2024, an 88% increase from 2023. Every month, there has been a 30% increase in new users of the app, whose sound identification function was launched in 2021. Merlin has been trained to identify the songs of more than 1,300 species around the world, with more birds added twice a year. Different songs make distinct patterns on spectrograms and Merlin is trained to recognise these different shapes and attribute them to a species. For latecomers to birding, or those lacking a knowledgeable friend, the app has become their teacher. "My fear at first was I wouldn't actually learn because I'm outsourcing my understanding of birds to this app," says Walter. "But that hasn't come to pass.

Researchers are scrambling to figure out why generative AI appears to lead some people to a state of "psychosis." Listen to more stories on the Noa app. Chatbots are marketed as great companions, able to answer any question at any time. They're not just tools, but confidants; they do your homework, write love notes, and, as one recent lawsuit against OpenAI details, might readily answer 1,460 messages from the same manic user in a 48-hour period. Jacob Irwin, a 30-year-old cybersecurity professional who says he has no previous history of psychiatric incidents, is suing the tech company, alleging that ChatGPT sparked a "delusional disorder" that led to his extended hospitalization.

Environment Animals Pets Dogs Pet dogs can help teens' mental health Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. It's old news that having a dog provides a lot of benefits. Playing with a pooch can help our brains concentrate and relax, a family dog can help prevent food allergies in children, and even fulfill our primal need to nurture. They also may have some sway over some of the tiniest organisms around--the microbes that live in our bodies. A study published December 3 in the journal found that the family dog prompts changes in our gut microbiome that result in better mental health.