Our Concerns
AI presents a range of risks to children and young people. Understanding these risks is the first step toward addressing them.
Deepfakes & Misinformation
AI-generated fake images, videos, and audio are increasingly realistic and being used to target children and teens.
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Deepfakes & Misinformation
AI can now generate convincing fake images, videos, and audio of real people. Children and teenagers are particularly vulnerable to this technology.
The Risks
- Non-consensual imagery: AI tools can create fake explicit images of real children, a growing crisis in schools worldwide.
- Bullying and harassment: Deepfakes are weaponised for targeted harassment among young people.
- Erosion of trust: When anything can be faked, children struggle to distinguish truth from fabrication.
- Political manipulation: Young people encountering AI-generated misinformation may develop distorted views of reality.
What Parents Should Know
Current laws haven’t caught up with this technology. While some jurisdictions are beginning to address deepfakes, enforcement remains extremely difficult. Parents should talk to their children about the existence of this technology and help them develop critical media literacy skills.
Addictive Design & Screen Time
AI-powered recommendation algorithms are designed to maximise engagement, keeping children hooked for longer.
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Addictive Design & Screen Time
AI recommendation engines power the feeds, suggestions, and notifications that keep children glued to their screens. These systems are optimised for engagement, not wellbeing.
The Risks
- Algorithmic rabbit holes: AI recommendations can lead children toward increasingly extreme or inappropriate content.
- Compulsive usage: AI-driven notifications and content are designed to trigger dopamine responses and habitual checking.
- Sleep disruption: Personalised, endless content streams make it harder for children to disengage at bedtime.
- Reduced attention spans: Constant AI-curated stimulation may affect children’s ability to focus on less immediately rewarding tasks.
What Parents Should Know
Social media companies invest billions in AI systems designed to maximise the time users spend on their platforms. Children’s developing brains are particularly susceptible to these engagement techniques. Setting clear boundaries around screen time and discussing how these algorithms work can help children develop healthier relationships with technology.
Education & Development
AI tools can undermine learning when used as shortcuts, while also creating new inequalities in education.
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Education & Development
AI is transforming education in ways that present both opportunities and significant risks for children’s intellectual development.
The Risks
- Academic dishonesty: AI chatbots can write essays, solve problems, and complete assignments, undermining genuine learning.
- Skill atrophy: Over-reliance on AI assistants may prevent children from developing critical thinking, writing, and problem-solving skills.
- Digital divide: Children with access to premium AI tools may gain unfair advantages, widening existing inequalities.
- Loss of curiosity: When AI provides instant answers, children may lose the drive to explore, question, and discover on their own.
What Parents Should Know
Schools are still working out how to handle AI in education. The key is helping children use AI as a learning aid rather than a replacement for thinking. Encourage your children to attempt problems independently first and use AI to check their understanding rather than bypass the learning process entirely.
Economic Impact & Job Displacement
AI automation threatens to reshape the job market our children will enter, requiring new skills and adaptability.
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Economic Impact & Job Displacement
The jobs our children will enter in 10-20 years may look very different from today’s economy. AI automation is accelerating changes that could affect entire career paths.
The Risks
- Job displacement: AI is increasingly capable of performing tasks in fields previously considered safe — writing, coding, design, analysis, and more.
- Wage pressure: Even where jobs aren’t eliminated, AI competition may push down wages in many knowledge-work sectors.
- Inequality: The benefits of AI may concentrate among those who own and control the technology, widening wealth gaps.
- Uncertain futures: Parents can’t rely on traditional career guidance when the landscape is shifting so rapidly.
What Parents Should Know
Rather than training children for specific jobs that may not exist, focus on developing adaptable skills: creativity, emotional intelligence, complex problem-solving, and the ability to work alongside AI tools effectively. The children who thrive will be those who can do what AI cannot — bring human judgment, empathy, and original thinking to their work.
Privacy & Data Collection
AI systems collect vast amounts of data about children, often without meaningful consent or understanding.
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Privacy & Data Collection
AI systems are hungry for data, and children are generating more of it than ever before — from educational platforms to social media to smart home devices.
The Risks
- Lifelong data trails: Information collected about children today will persist and may be used in ways we can’t yet predict.
- Profiling from birth: AI can build detailed psychological and behavioural profiles of children from their digital activity.
- Voice assistants: Smart speakers and AI assistants in homes collect and process children’s conversations.
- Biometric data: Facial recognition in schools, emotional AI in classrooms, and other biometric systems normalise surveillance from a young age.
What Parents Should Know
Children cannot meaningfully consent to data collection. Many AI services marketed for children collect far more data than necessary for their stated purpose. Review the privacy policies of apps and services your children use, minimise data collection where possible, and advocate for stronger data protection laws for minors.
Mental Health
AI-driven social media and chatbots can exacerbate anxiety, depression, and loneliness in young people.
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Mental Health
The intersection of AI and children’s mental health is a growing area of concern, with AI systems affecting how children see themselves and interact with the world.
The Risks
- AI companions: Children forming emotional bonds with AI chatbots may find it harder to develop real human relationships.
- Body image: AI-generated and AI-enhanced images create impossible beauty standards that affect children’s self-esteem.
- Comparison culture: AI-curated feeds amplify social comparison, contributing to anxiety and depression.
- Inappropriate advice: AI chatbots lack the judgment to handle sensitive mental health conversations with children safely.
What Parents Should Know
Several high-profile cases have highlighted the risks of children interacting with AI chatbots without appropriate safeguards. While AI could potentially be used to support mental health, current commercial implementations often prioritise engagement over safety. Maintain open conversations with your children about their online experiences and watch for signs of distress related to AI interactions.
Online Safety & Predators
AI tools give predators new capabilities while making content moderation more difficult.
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Online Safety & Predators
AI is creating new vectors for harm while simultaneously making existing threats harder to detect and prevent.
The Risks
- AI-assisted grooming: Predators can use AI to generate personalised, manipulative messages at scale.
- Voice cloning scams: AI can clone a parent’s or friend’s voice to deceive children.
- CSAM generation: AI tools are being misused to generate child sexual abuse material, complicating law enforcement efforts.
- Moderation challenges: AI-generated content is harder to detect and remove than traditional harmful content.
What Parents Should Know
While platforms use AI for content moderation, the same technology empowers bad actors. Teach children to be sceptical of online interactions, never share personal information, and come to a trusted adult if something feels wrong. Support organisations working on AI safety and push for stronger regulations around AI tools that could be misused to harm children.
Existential & Long-term Risks
The rapid advancement of AI raises profound questions about the future world our children will inherit.
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Existential & Long-term Risks
Beyond the immediate concerns, AI development raises deeper questions about the kind of world our children will grow up in.
The Risks
- Autonomous weapons: AI-powered weapons systems could make conflict more likely and more devastating.
- Loss of human agency: As AI systems make more decisions, children may grow up with less autonomy and fewer meaningful choices.
- Concentration of power: AI could enable unprecedented surveillance and control by governments or corporations.
- Alignment problems: As AI systems become more capable, ensuring they remain aligned with human values becomes more critical — and more difficult.
What Parents Should Know
These larger-scale risks may seem abstract, but they shape the world our children will live in. Supporting responsible AI development, engaging with policy discussions, and raising children who think critically about technology are all ways parents can help steer AI development in a positive direction. The decisions we make now about AI governance will have consequences for generations.
Concerned? Take Action.
Now that you understand the risks, help us push for change. Sign our petition, share with other parents, and make your voice heard.
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