Childline: AI can bring negatives as well as the positives to young people
For more than five years, our Childline counsellors have been hearing from young people about upsetting artificial intelligence (AI) content, as some of it is not age appropriate, legal and often promotes unhealthy behaviours.
There can be many positives to the use of AI in helping to find information, making creative content and getting support quickly through chat functions. However, as with other areas of online use, AI comes with risks to children as well.
It can be difficult for parents to be aware of how and when AI is being used, and also how to talk to their children about it. Having open conversations with your child about where they might see AI tools and content online is a great opportunity to talk about the risks and benefits they are experiencing.
AI content generators can be used to create realistic looking content – sometimes based on real content uploaded by young people themselves – and in turn, this can be used to bully the individual or even blackmail them.”
It’s important to remind young people that not everything they see or read online is real. Much of what we view online may have been edited, and although AI is continually evolving it is not always obvious that material might have been artificially created or amended.
Some indicators of AI being used to create or alter an image can be an overall ‘perfect’ appearance, or body parts or movements appearing differently or not looking ‘true to life’.
Signposting to health and wellbeing advice is something that Childline can help young people with, and it is a topic children may search online for. With a general search engine, it’s possible they will be directed to an AI bot or a summary which might be unreliable, so using a child friendly, safe site like www.childline.org.uk as a starting point is good practice.
Lastly, ensure your child knows who they can turn to for help or support about anything they have encountered online or offline. Whether that is speaking to a family member or another trusted adult like a teacher or one of our Childline counsellors on 0800 1111 or through the Childline website, it’s vital they know they are not alone.