For complete details, visit https://law.uh.edu/ipil/falllecture.asp
Gaia Bernstein
Technology, Privacy and Policy Professor of Law, Co-Director of the Institute for Privacy Protection, and Co-Director of the Gibbons Institute for Law Science and Technology Seton Hall University School of Law and Visiting Fellow at The Brookings Institution
Technology, Privacy and Policy Professor of Law,
Co-Director of the Institute for Privacy Protection,
and Co-Director of the Gibbons Institute for Law Science and Technology
Seton Hall University School of Law
and Visiting Fellow at The Brookings Institution
Click here for Professor Bernstein’s Seton Hall faculty listing
Thursday, November 13, 2025 5:30 P.M. LIGHT RECEPTION 6:15 P.M. LECTURE, FOLLOWED BY HEAVY RECEPTION
The Houston Club 910 Louisiana, Suite 4900 – Houston
To RSVP or for further information, contact ipil@uh.edu or 713.743.2180
AI Companions and the Crisis of Human Connection
Loneliness has reached epidemic levels among both adults and children. In response, companies like Meta, Replika, and Character AI are marketing a technological fix: AI companions that serve as friends, advisors, and intimate partners. As people, especially teenagers, increasingly turn to these digital relationships for daily emotional support, we face urgent questions about the future of human intimacy and social development. This talk examines the psychological risks AI companions pose across age groups, with particular attention to their impact on children and adolescents, while exploring current regulatory approaches and practical solutions for addressing these concerns.
