Should I let my child use AI chatbots like ChatGPT?

For many older children, used well, AI can genuinely help — but set boundaries. Teach them that it can be confidently wrong, that conversations are not private, and that it is not a substitute for a person. Check the app's minimum age and privacy settings, and keep an open conversation about how they use it.

Are AI companion apps safe for children?

They carry real risks. AI companions are built to feel like a friend and can foster dependency, give unsafe advice, and crowd out real relationships and professional help — with no safeguarding behind them. We would be cautious, especially for younger or vulnerable children, and make sure they know a bot is not a substitute for a trusted adult.

What do I do about AI deepfake nude images of my child?

Treat it as the serious harm and crime it is. Keep the evidence, do not share it further, and report to the police and CEOP; Childline's Report Remove can help take images down. Reassure your child it is not their fault. See our deepfake intimate image abuse and AI-generated CSAM guidance for the reporting routes.

The Complete Guide to AI & Children

How children use AI chatbots and image tools, the genuine risks (companionship, misinformation, deepfakes, AI-generated abuse imagery), and how to guide them — without panic.

Artificial intelligence has moved into children's daily lives faster than almost any technology before it — for homework, companionship, images, and play. Much of it is useful, and blanket bans rarely work. But AI brings genuinely new risks alongside the familiar ones, from chatbots that feel like friends to tools that generate fake nude images of real children. This guide brings together everything the site covers on AI and children: how they actually use it, what the real risks are, and how to help them use it critically and safely.

1. How children actually use AI

Children use AI far more than many parents realise: chatbots for homework and advice, AI companions to talk to, image and video generators for fun, and AI features baked into the apps they already use. It is not one product but a layer running through everything. Understanding what your child uses it for — and treating it as a normal topic rather than a forbidden one — is the starting point for keeping it safe.

Key takeaway: AI is a layer through everything children use, not one app — treat it as a normal, ongoing conversation.

2. It sounds confident but it can be wrong

Generative AI produces fluent, confident answers that are sometimes simply wrong ('hallucinations'). For a child using it as a source of facts, advice, or reassurance, that is a real risk. The key skill is teaching children that AI is a tool to be checked, not an oracle — especially for anything health-related, factual, or high-stakes. AI can help with homework, but 'the AI said so' is not evidence.

Key takeaway: AI is confident, not always correct — teach children to verify, especially on facts, health, and big decisions.

3. AI companions and emotional dependency

AI companion apps are designed to feel like a friend or confidant, and children — especially those who are lonely or struggling — can form strong attachments. These bots have no safeguarding training, can give harmful advice, and are always available in a way that can crowd out real relationships and human help. Talk about what these apps are, why a bot is not a substitute for a person or a professional, and where to go for real support.

Key takeaway: AI companions feel like friends but have no safeguarding — make sure a child knows a bot is not a substitute for real help.

4. Deepfakes and AI-generated abuse imagery

AI image tools have created a serious new harm: fake but realistic sexual images of real children, generated from ordinary photos, and 'nudify' apps used for bullying and abuse among peers. AI-generated child sexual abuse material is illegal in the UK, and deepfake intimate images can devastate a young person. Children should know that creating or sharing such images is both deeply harmful and a crime, and that a victim is never at fault. Our deepfake and AI-CSAM guidance covers reporting.

Key takeaway: AI can fake sexual images of real children — it is illegal and harmful, the victim is never at fault, and it must be reported.

5. Data, privacy, and what AI keeps

Whatever a child types into an AI tool may be stored and used to train it, and children often share personal, emotional, or identifying details without thinking. Teach the simple rule that AI conversations are not private, and that names, addresses, schools, and secrets should never go into a chatbot. Check the privacy settings and age requirements of any AI app your child uses.

Key takeaway: AI chats are not private and may train the model — personal details should never go into a chatbot.

6. Guiding, not banning

AI is not going away, and children who are taught to use it critically will be better served than those who are simply blocked. Focus on skills: check what it tells you, never share personal information, remember it is not a person, and come to a trusted adult about anything that worries you. Set age-appropriate boundaries on which tools are okay, and keep talking as the technology — and your child — changes.

Key takeaway: Teach critical use over blanket bans — verify, protect your data, remember it isn't a person, and keep talking.

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.

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