Drawing on Darren’s 30 years in policing and training in Neuro Linguistic Programming, this article explores how AI companionship apps use the same rapport-building methods once used by skilled interrogators, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual connection, to earn trust and create dependency. Parents and educators learn how to teach youth to spot synthetic empathy, question digital rapport, and stay grounded in real human connection.

Some presenters claim success when parents say their kids rolled their eyes after a safety talk, but that’s not connection, it’s disconnection. Eye rolls don’t mean learning happened; they show frustration. True digital literacy builds dialogue, not division. The goal isn’t conflict or control, it’s communication, understanding, and trust between parents, caregivers, and youth.

A recent Ontario case, R. v. Kapoor (2025 ONCJ 542), ruled that sharing a fake nude of a spouse is morally wrong but not a crime under current law. The judge found deepfake nudes fall outside Canada’s intimate-image law since they’re not “real recordings.” This exposes a major gap in protecting adult victims. Courts could apply the Salituro principle to close it until Parliament modernizes Section 162.1.