AI Image Generation Safety Guide
A parent's guide to AI image generation tools — including Midjourney, DALL-E, and Stable Diffusion — covering deepfake risks, CSAM generation, and body image concerns.
Official age
13+
We recommend
16+
Developer
Various (Midjourney, DALL-E, Stable Diffusion)
Risks
3
Overview
AI image generation tools allow users to create photorealistic images from text descriptions. The most widely known include Midjourney (accessed via Discord), DALL-E (integrated into ChatGPT), Adobe Firefly, and open-source tools such as Stable Diffusion. These tools have extraordinary creative potential but also pose serious risks when misused. They can be used to generate realistic non-consensual intimate images (deepfakes), content that sexualises minors, and manipulated images designed to humiliate or harass individuals.
How children use it
Children and teenagers use AI image tools for creative projects, fan art, memes, and experimentation. Many encounter them through ChatGPT's integrated DALL-E feature or through social media communities on Discord and Reddit. Some teenagers use them to create realistic images of peers without consent, including manipulated intimate images. Open-source tools available online have fewer safeguards than commercial products.
Main risks
Recommended privacy settings
Content Policy Adherence (Midjourney)
Location: Midjourney server settings → Community Guidelines
Set to: Standard (no explicit content enabled)
Midjourney's default settings block explicit content. Ensure your child understands that attempting to bypass these filters through creative prompting violates the platform's terms of service and may result in account bans.
DALL-E within ChatGPT — Safe Messaging
Location: ChatGPT Settings → Safety
Set to: Default safe settings maintained
DALL-E integrated into ChatGPT applies content filters by default. Review these settings and ensure your child understands why generating realistic images of real people — especially classmates — is unacceptable.
Avoid Open-Source Tools Without Safeguards
Location: Device parental controls / network filtering
Set to: Block access to uncensored Stable Diffusion interfaces
Unlike commercial tools, many open-source Stable Diffusion implementations have no content filters. Use network-level filtering or device controls to restrict access to these sites on children's devices.
Parent actions
Talk explicitly with your child about what AI image generation is capable of, including deepfakes and non-consensual intimate images, and why creating such content is both harmful and potentially illegal
Time: 20 minutes
Check your child's devices and apps for AI image generation tools and review any images they have generated
Time: 15 minutes
Use network-level filtering to block access to unmoderated open-source AI image generation websites on your home network
Time: 20 minutes