A new study published on October 8th by the Center for Democracy and Technology, the CDT,

found that one in five high school students have a relationship with an AI chatbot.

Hello and welcome to USA Today's The Excerpt. I'm Dana Taylor. Today is Friday, November 14th, 2025.

Before we get started, a word of caution. This conversation includes a discussion of suicide and suicidal ideation.

If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available.

Call her text 988 or chat at 988 lifeline.org. Megan Garcia, the mother of 14-year-old,

Sewell Setzer III, has filed a lawsuit against the artificial intelligence company,

character AI. She alleges the platform, cost her son his life. Heard to help us better understand what may have led to

this tragic loss of life is USA Today wellness reporter, Alyssa Goldberg. Melissa, thank you so much

for joining me. Hi, thank you for having me. First, tell me about 14-year-old Sol.

So, Sol, he was a 14-year-old boy.

His mother describes him as being a really sweet, caring child.

He was a big brother to multiple siblings, and she said that one of his favorite pastimes was spending time with them, making them

laugh. And though now we're talking about him in the context of his usage of character AI. And his

mom understands that, you know, this work that she's doing after his death will be part of his legacy.

She really does also want him to be remembered as a kind child who was smart and creative and loved his siblings.

And his mother says that her son was seduced by a character AI bot. What can you share with us

about that? Soul story with Character AI starts in the spring of 2023. Megan Garcia, his mother,

started noticing some changes in her behavior. He

became a bit more reclusive, spending time in his room, on his phone. And she thought that this was

just normal teenage behavior. He's going through puberty. He's less interested in family time,

more interested in friends or online games. But when his

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