Children and Artificial Intelligence

Begin with the actual use: schoolwork, communication, play, curiosity, company. An access tool and a product designed to sustain attachment are not the same choice merely because both use AI.

Find out what the service says about age, retained conversations, access by staff, deletion, advertising and how problems are reported. Try the relevant features with an adult account where permitted. Do not enter a child’s private information merely to test a system.

What an adult can look for

The child should be able to tell that the respondent is a system. A product should not ask them to keep a relationship secret, make them responsible for its supposed feelings, or turn continued payment into proof of care.

An explanation can be useful and wrong. Help a child examine an ordinary claim against an appropriate source. Do not stage a frightening failure in order to teach skepticism. The aim is to make questioning a source ordinary, including questioning an adult.

Keep a route for awkward questions that does not punish the asking. Restrictions may be necessary, but a rule is not a substitute for a relationship or for qualified help where a child needs it.

If a child is threatened, impersonated or targeted with harmful generated material, follow the relevant school, platform and statutory reporting routes. Do not redistribute harmful material to demonstrate the problem. In immediate danger, contact local emergency services.

This page establishes no verdict about long-term developmental effects and certifies no product safe. Those claims require evidence and expertise beyond the fact that a site has written careful advice. The safeguarding page governs gatherings under this name.