6 top tips: how to support your children to use AI safely
1) Talk about where AI is being used
A good place to start is by having open conversations with your child about where they are seeing AI tools and content online. This is an opportunity to talk about the risks and benefits they are experiencing.
2) Remind young people not everything is real
You can remind them that not everything online is real and much of what we see may have been edited.
AI is continually evolving but there can be common indicators to show something is AI generated but remember it is not always obvious. Some of these indicators can be an overall ‘perfect’ appearance, body parts or movements appearing differently or not looking ‘true to life’.
3) Discuss misuse of generative AI
It’s important to address the misuse of generative AI to create harmful content in an age-appropriate way. Make sure that your child knows it’s not OK for anyone to create content to harm other people.
If they ever experience this or are worried about someone doing it, then they can report that. If you are concerned about how someone is behaving towards a child online this can be reported to law enforcement agency CEOP.
If a sexual image or video has been created, this can be reported via Report Remove.
4) Remind them to check sources
AI summaries and chatbots can be helpful tools to get quick answers to a question but it’s important to know it’s coming from a reliable source.
Sources should be listed and will often have links so they can be checked. If the source is not listed or is not a reliable source, it’s good to encourage them to check a trusted site for themselves.
5) Signpost to safe sources of health and wellbeing advice
We know young people will use the internet to get advice and answers to questions which could mean they come across advice from an AI bot or summary. It’s important they access safe information from reliable sources, so it can be helpful to make sure they know of child-friendly safe sites such as Childline.
6) Make sure they know where to go for help
Ensure your child knows they can talk to you or another safe adult like a teacher if anything worries them online or offline. They can also contact Childline 24/7 on 0800 11 11 or via email or online chat, there are lots of ways they can get support.
