When AI Meets Childhood: Safety, Development & the Digital Future

Artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping the digital world our children grow up in, creating opportunities for learning and connection—but also ushering in complex new challenges for safety, attention, identity, and mental health. In this timely episode, we sit down with Dr. Scott Kollins, Chief Medical Officer at Aura and a nationally recognized expert in ADHD, digital health, and youth mental wellness. Together, we explore how AI-driven platforms represent a significant evolution from earlier forms of digital media. Dr. Kollins explains how algorithmic personalization, generative content, and immersive engagement tools influence children’s attention patterns, behavior, and even neurological development. He highlights emerging concerns surrounding AI-generated characters and influencers designed to mimic friendship and connection—raising important considerations for social development, empathy, and identity formation in childhood. The conversation also delves into the growing difficulty children face in distinguishing real from artificial experiences online, and how this blurring of reality can shape emotional regulation, perception, and worldview. Dr. Kollins discusses the mental health implications of AI systems that feel responsive or “alive” to young users, and what it means to parent in an era where digital platforms may seem to be constantly listening. This episode offers an essential, research-grounded understanding of the digital landscape parents are navigating today, and provides guidance for supporting children’s well-being as technology continues to evolve at unprecedented speed. PRODUCTS TO KEEP KIDS SAFE: https://www.aura.com/ https://meetcircle.com/