Children and AI: Advice for parents

Research shows that more and more kids are turning to artificial intelligence not just for help with school projects but for personal conversations, support and guidance.

Sarah Hoffman, social media lawyer and co-founder of Klikd, which aims to create more empowered relationships with technology, chatted to CapeTalk's Pippa Hudson.

"There's never been a harder time to parent because we're all just navigating in the dark here. We can't ask our own parents: "How did you decide when I was ready for ChatGPT or Snapchat or a smartphone?" We're really all just figuring it out together."

With regards to how AI is being used, Hoffman said the research shows that more than half of teenagers are using it to help with their homework, often without their parents even realising.

She said what really keeps her up at night, though, is that more teenagers and even tweens are turning to chatbots to ask questions that maybe they feel uncomfortable speaking to adults about. "It's anything from: `How should I ask this girl out on a date?' to more intense questions.

"And sometimes there is an argument to be made that if a child does not have resources for therapy, a social worker or even a parent, sometimes the answers are wonderful. But, we really do need to proceed with caution."

"We've seen a number of court cases coming out now where the chatbots are not sophisticated enough to flag children who are really at risk."

So, how do adults set boundaries for children using AI?

From a school perspective they need to urgently put guidelines and policies in place as to how AI can be used, said Hoffman. "My great concern for schools is that if this isn't regulated, there's a huge opportunity cost in terms of critical thinking... And we do have a very comprehensive school policy at Klikd that helps schools."

Then, as parents, we have to be open and non-judgmental. "It's not one conversation, it's hundreds of conversations. We need to ask our children how they're using it. Are their friends using it? Use it together sometime."

She says children also need to know that AI can get it wrong and that information needs to be verified.

To listen to Hoffman's full discussion with Pippa Hudson, click the media player below: