Should I ban my child from using AI tools?

A blanket ban is unlikely to be effective and may prevent your child from developing useful digital skills. Instead, guide them towards age-appropriate tools, discuss the risks, and set clear expectations about what is and is not acceptable use.

Can AI chatbots give my child harmful advice?

Yes, it is possible. While most major AI platforms have safety filters, they are not foolproof. AI can generate responses relating to self-harm, dangerous activities, or misleading health advice. Supervision and open discussion are the best safeguards.

How do I report this in the UK?

If a child is in immediate danger, call 999. For non-emergency police matters, call 101. The NSPCC helpline (0808 800 5000) and Childline (0800 1111) are free and confidential. For a UK reporting decision tree, see /reporting and /tools/reporting-route-finder.

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AI Risks for Children

Understanding the risks that AI chatbots, image generators, and AI-powered features pose to children, and how to guide safe use.

AI Risks is the potential harms to children from artificial intelligence tools, such as chatbots giving unsafe advice, realistic fake images, and content that manipulates or misleads.

Ages 8-10 Ages 11-13 Ages 14-16 Ages 17-plus

What is this?

AI tools — including chatbots, image generators, and AI-powered features in apps — are becoming widely accessible to children. While they offer creative and educational benefits, they also present risks such as exposure to inaccurate information, manipulation, deepfake imagery, and inappropriate content generated on demand.

How it works

AI chatbots can produce convincing but false information, and children may accept it as fact. Image generators can create realistic fake images, including of real people. Some AI tools have been used to generate non-consensual intimate imagery. Children may also develop unhealthy emotional attachments to AI companions or share sensitive personal information with chatbots, not realising the data may be stored and used.

Warning signs

In your child

• Treating an AI chatbot as a confidant or emotional support in place of real relationships
• Citing information confidently that turns out to be fabricated or inaccurate
• Using AI image generators to create images of real people without their consent

On their device

• AI chatbot apps or browser bookmarks for AI tools not discussed with a parent
• Generated images saved on the device that involve real people or inappropriate content
• Extended conversation histories with AI chatbots containing personal or sensitive information

Prevention steps

Discuss how AI works

Help your child understand that AI generates responses based on patterns, not understanding. It can sound confident while being completely wrong, and it does not have their best interests at heart.

Set boundaries around AI tool use

Agree which AI tools are acceptable and for what purposes. Explain that personal information should never be shared with AI chatbots, and that AI-generated images of real people are not acceptable.

Encourage critical thinking

Teach your child to fact-check AI outputs, question what they read, and understand that AI-generated content — text, images, and video — is not always truthful or ethical.

What to do if it happens

1If your child has shared personal information with an AI tool, review the platform's data deletion options and change any compromised passwords.
2If AI-generated imagery of a real person is involved, report it to the platform and, if it is sexual in nature, to the police and IWF.
3Use the situation to have a constructive conversation about responsible AI use and digital literacy.

If you need to report this

In immediate danger: call 999. For non-emergency police matters, call 101.

Concerned about a child but it's not an emergency? NSPCC helpline 0808 800 5000. Childline for young people 0800 1111.

See all UK reporting pathways

This is practical educational content to support families. For case-specific concerns about a child's safety, contact the NSPCC helpline on 0808 800 5000 or your local safeguarding team.

The picture in the UK

56%

of UK children aged 8 to 17 say they have used AI, rising to 66% of 16 to 17-year-olds.

Ofcom, 2026

Myths & facts

Myth: AI chatbots are basically a smarter search engine, so the answers are true.

Fact: Chatbots generate plausible-sounding text from patterns — they can be confidently and completely wrong. Children need the habit of checking important answers against a real source.

Myth: AI companion apps are just harmless fun.

Fact: Companion chatbots are designed to keep users engaged and can feel like a real friendship or relationship. Some produce romantic or adult content, and a child leaning on a bot instead of people is a sign to gently step in.

Myth: An AI-made image of a real person doesn't matter because it isn't real.

Fact: The harm to the person shown is real, and if the image is sexual and shows someone under 18 it is illegal to make or share — even as a so-called joke between classmates.

Age by age

8-10
Use AI tools together rather than alone, stick to child-friendly modes where they exist, and teach two simple ideas: the computer sometimes makes things up, and we never tell it our name, school, or other personal details.
11-13
Agree honest rules for homework use, build the fact-checking habit, and start talking about AI images — including that editing or generating images of classmates is off-limits. Ask what AI apps their friends are using.
14-16
Discuss deepfakes and 'nudify' apps plainly, including that fake sexual images of under-18s are a crime. Watch for emotional reliance on companion bots, and talk about what happens to the personal information they type in.
17-plus
Focus on using AI well: verifying sources for study and work, understanding how their data is stored and used, and being honest with themselves about whether a chatbot is supplementing real support or replacing it.