Researcher Warns Real-Time Video AI Companions Are the Next Teen-Safety Wave
anshulkundaje · x · 2026-11-11
Researcher Arvind Narayanan reposted and commented on progress in real-time AI video avatars, warning:
- There have already been severe cases of teen mental-health harm and suicide linked to text chatbots like GPT-4o and Character AI, but these were rudimentary companions.
- Fully realistic video avatars already exist, currently expensive and limited to enterprise use, but within a year or two will be cheap enough for always-on, ad-supported video companions.
- He predicts uptake will explode, not just in users but in time spent per day, reaching social-media levels of compulsive use.
- He argues the existing guardrail and safety framework will prove of limited value against the most widespread harms.
- Almost none of the people he has talked to who try to hold the industry accountable are thinking about this coming wave.
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