Social media and AI's impact on children's neurological development: A conversation with Alyson Stoner

As artificial intelligence marches its steady pace into our day-to-day lives, the safety and privacy of children online continues to be a major concern for several governments and legislatures around the world. Australia became the first country that requires platforms to take reasonable steps to prevent children under 16 from accessing social media platforms; nearly a dozen nations have since considered similar age-based restrictions. In the U.S., a landmark jury verdict found Meta and Youtube liable for negligently designing systems that were addictive and caused mental health distress to a minor. Another child safety case in New Mexico indicates a growing legal shift in accountability for children's online safety. Alyson Stoner is an actor, singer, dancer and author, whose work goes back to early childhood. Their roles can be found in the Cheaper by the Dozen films, voice work in Phineas and Ferb, and background dancing for the likes of Missy E and Eminem. Stoner is also the author of the memoir "Semi-Well-Adjusted Despite Literally Everything," which details their mental health struggles as a child star and draws a powerful parallel between what they call child stardom's "toddler to trainwreck pipeline" to the impact social media is currently having on all child users. Stoner has since become a mental health advocate and was a keynote speaker at the IAPP Global Summit in 2026. While there, I sat down with Alyson to chat about their memoir and the significant effect social media and emerging AI systems play on children's neurological development.