conclusion & resources

Some examples? The real environmental concerns people have about training and using AI;^{1Zewe, 2025 — MIT News} what happens when AI erodes our critical thinking skills;^{2Chow, 2025 — TIME} where these bots are replacing — or, in some sectors, speeding up! — jobs, dreams, and futures.^{3Azpúrua, 2026 — Harvard Business School} We have already published a separate addendum about the role AI chatbots play in harming girls and women,^{4Martínez, 2026 — Letters to Strangers} and we’ll aim to add to this repository over time. But we encourage you to do your own additional research, too. It’s not meant to be all doom and gloom. For the future of AI to go in a direction of hope, we need to have genuine conversations about what trade-offs and risks really look like. We can’t protect ourselves if we don’t know what we may have to be protected against.

Sometimes, navigating AI chatbots can feel like what the dinosaurs must have felt watching asteroids fall toward earth: everyone has their own opinion; no one is really sure what the future holds; all we know is that it seems inevitable.

There will always be great reasons to use AI, and great reasons to avoid it. What’s changed is your understanding of it: you now know what to be cautious of, what to be optimistic about. What to watch out for, what to set up in advance. What to ask yourself throughout it all. And, most importantly, what — or, in the cases of trusted loved ones, who — AI can never replace in real life.

As you navigate AI use going forward, remember that you have control. The tech is unfathomably intricate, but we are the ones telling it where to go. So bring a buddy or two along for the ride. Take pride in charting your own path.

resources to get you started

Want to learn more about AI use, online safety, and reporting mechanisms? Here are some resources to dig into: