As kids flip to AI chatbots for solutions, recommendation, and companionship, questions emerge about their security, privateness, and emotional growth
23 Jan 2026
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4 min. learn
AI chatbots have develop into an enormous a part of all of our lives since they burst onto the scene greater than three years in the past. ChatGPT, for instance, says it has round 700 million weekly lively customers, lots of whom are “younger individuals.” A UK examine from July 2025 discovered that just about two-thirds (64%) of kids use such instruments. The same share of oldsters is nervous their youngsters assume AI chatbots are actual individuals.
Whereas this can be a slight overreaction, legit security, privateness and psychological considerations are rising resulting from frequent use of the expertise by kids. As a father or mother, you’ll be able to’t assume that each one platform suppliers have efficient child-appropriate safeguards in place. Even when protections do exist, enforcement isn’t essentially constant, and the expertise itself is evolving sooner than coverage.
What are the dangers?
Our youngsters use generative AI (GenAI) in various methods. Some worth its assist when doing homework. Others would possibly deal with the chatbot like a digital companion, asking it recommendation and trusting its responses as they’d a detailed buddy. There are a number of apparent dangers related to this.
The primary is psychological and social. Kids are going via an unbelievable interval of emotional and cognitive growth, making them weak in numerous methods. They could come to depend on AI companions on the expense of forming real friendships with classmates – exacerbating social isolation. And since chatbots are pre-programmed to please their customers, they might serve up output that amplifies any difficulties younger individuals could also be going via – like consuming problems, self-harm and/or suicidal ideas. There’s additionally a threat that your baby spends time with their AI that edges out not solely human friendships, but additionally time that must be spent on homework or with the household.
There are additionally dangers round what a GenAI chatbot might permit your baby to entry on the web. Though the primary suppliers have guardrails designed to restrict hyperlinks to inappropriate or harmful content material, they aren’t all the time efficient. In some circumstances, they might override these inside security measures to share sexually specific or violent content material, for instance. In case your baby is extra tech savvy, they might even have the ability to ‘jailbreak’ the system via particular prompts.
Hallucinations are one other concern. For company customers, this will create vital reputational and legal responsibility dangers. However for teenagers, it could end in them believing false data introduced convincingly as reality, which leads to them taking unwise choices on medical or relationship issues.
Lastly, it’s vital to keep in mind that chatbots are additionally a possible privateness threat. In case your baby enters delicate private and monetary data in a immediate, it will likely be saved by the supplier. If that occurs, it may theoretically be accessed by a 3rd occasion (e.g., a provider/accomplice), hacked by a cybercriminal, or regurgitated to a different person. Simply as you wouldn’t need your baby to overshare on social media, one of the best plan of action is to attenuate what they share with a GenAI bot.
Some crimson flags to look out for
Certainly the AI platforms perceive and are taking steps to mitigate these dangers? Properly, sure, however solely up to some extent. Relying on the place your kids stay and what chatbot they’re utilizing, there could also be little in the way in which of age verification or content material moderation occurring. The onus, subsequently, is unquestionably on dad and mom to get forward of any threats via proactive monitoring and training.
First up, listed below are a couple of indicators that your kids might have an unhealthy relationship with AI:
- They withdraw from extracurricular time spent with family and friends
- They develop into anxious when not capable of entry their chatbot, and should attempt to disguise indicators of overuse
- They discuss concerning the chatbot as if it had been an actual individual
- They repeat again to you as “reality” apparent misinformation
- They ask their AI about critical situations similar to psychological well being points (which you discover out about by accessing dialog historical past)
- They entry grownup/inappropriate content material served up by the AI
Time to speak
In lots of jurisdictions, AI chatbots are restricted to customers over 13-years-old. However given patchy enforcement, you’ll have to take issues into your individual palms. Conversations matter greater than controls alone. For one of the best outcomes, take into account combining technical controls with training and recommendation, delivered in an open and non-confrontational method.
Whether or not they’re in school, at residence or participating in an after-school membership, your kids have adults telling them what to do each minute of their waking lives. So attempt to body your outreach about AI as a two-way dialog, the place they really feel snug sharing their experiences with out the concern of punishment. Clarify the hazards of overuse, hallucinations, knowledge sharing, and over-relying on AI for assist with critical issues. Assist them to grasp that AI bots aren’t actual individuals able to thought – that they’re machines designed to be participating. Train your youngsters to assume critically, all the time reality test AI output, and by no means substitute a chat with their dad and mom for a session with a machine.
If essential, mix that training piece with a coverage for limiting AI use (simply as you would possibly restrict use of social media, or display screen time basically) and limiting use to age-appropriate platforms. Swap on parental controls within the apps they use that will help you monitor utilization and decrease threat. Remind your youngsters by no means to share personally identifiable data (PII) with AI and tweak their privateness settings to cut back the chance of unintentional leaks.
Our youngsters want people on the heart of their emotional world. AI generally is a useful gizmo for a lot of issues. However till your youngsters develop a wholesome relationship with it, their utilization must be fastidiously monitored. And it ought to by no means exchange human contact.
