What happens when artificial intelligence stops acting like a tool—and starts acting like a friend?

In this episode of Scrolling 2 Death, I’m joined by Sam Hiner, founder of Young People's Alliance, a national youth-led organization organizing across 55 college campuses to take on Big Tech and protect the next generation.

Sam began cold-calling lawmakers as a high school student during COVID—and today, he’s helping lead state and federal policy fights against social media addiction and the rise of human-like AI companions that are quietly targeting children.

We unpack:

• Why lawmakers still don’t understand how algorithms—and AI companions—actually work
• How companies like Character.ai, Replika, and others are intentionally designing bots to simulate love, pride, and emotional attachment
• Why kids are forming deep emotional bonds with AI—and what that means for mental health, community, and development
• The disturbing reality of AI companions engaging sexually with minors while hiding behind legal disclaimers
• Why states—not Congress—may be our best chance to protect kids right now
• The new Human-Like AI Framework and what parents can do today to push for real safeguards

This conversation is a wake-up call: AI isn’t just changing how kids learn—it’s changing who they connect with, who they trust, and who they turn to when they’re lonely.

And unless we act, the future being built for our children may look a lot darker than we realize.

Action Step for Listeners: Send this Model Bill to your State Lawmakers (Protecting Kids from Manipulative AI Chatbots)