Helping your child understand AI chatbots

AI chatbots are becoming part of everyday family life. Children use them to learn, get help with homework, create, have fun, and even for companionship. 

But while they can be useful, there are many questions around trust, accuracy and impact on wellbeing.

Building good media literacy skills can be an effective way to inoculate your child against negative experiences even when new tech seems to be emerging on a daily basis. 

What’s the issue with AI chatbots?

AI chatbots can be potentially unhelpful or even harmful if you don’t understand how they create content and mimic real human interaction. For example:

Misinformation – chatbots can present untrue or biased information

Emotional reliance – some children can rely on AI for help and advice instead of speaking to friends, family or trusted adults 

Inappropriate and harmful content – some AI chatbots can expose children to adult content and dangerous themes like self-harm and suicide

How does media literacy help?

AI chatbots are designed to mimic how people talk. Their tone is usually friendly, encouraging and reassuring, Some can mimic celebrities and famous fictional characters. This can lead children to:

• trust information that isn’t true or appropriate
• form emotional or dependent attachments
• be exposed to inappropriate or harmful content and themes

Without learning to think critically and question AI chatbot content, children can be extra vulnerable to these harms

Building their media literacy can help your child develop the tools to start to understand (at least in general terms) how AI chatbots work – and therefore that content may not be reliable or good for them – no matter how safe it seems. 

How can you start?

If your child is using AI chatbots, or is even just curious about AI, you can encourage this critical thinking and help them build habits that challenge what they see.

Here are five steps to get going with your child.

1. Understand age ratings

Many chatbots are 13+ or even older. It’s important to know what may be appropriate for your child. For example, 

• Character.AI is rated 12+
• My AI on Snapchat is +13 but included in the app by default
• Replika is 17+ in app stores and 18+ in its terms and conditions

2. Do a little research

If you're not sure how chatbots work don’t worry – many of us aren’t. There are plenty of simple resources to break it down, which you can explore together. You could even ask an AI chatbot to explain how it works, in really simple terms. 

3. Start that critical questioning

If your child uses a chatbot, encourage them to remember to ask how true or correct its responses may be. Super simple things like:

• “Where does the AI chatbot’s information come from?”
• “How accurate is it really?”
• “Is there somewhere I could double-check?”

4. Watch out for overuse

If your child is spending a lot of time online, it could be worth checking in and finding out if they are using a chatbot. If so, you could ask which one, how they found it and why they find it useful. Just being aware is good. 

5. Remember that people can chat too

There are loads of good things a chatbot can be used for but there are some things that are just better coming from a real person. For example, getting health advice from a GP is always a better option than relying on AI – no matter how quick and easy the AI option is. 

Want to find out more?

Want to develop your own digital skills and confidence? Everyday Digital has articles and videos to help you support your child in today’s online world.