Introduction

Updated July 2026, originally published 25th November 2025

AI is already shaping how children learn, play, communicate and see themselves - often in ways adults do not fully understand.

Artificial intelligence, or AI, helps us search the internet, plan routes, stream music, translate languages, generate images, write text and support children with homework. Used well, some AI tools can save time, support creativity and open up new opportunities.

But AI is not simply clever technology. It is powerful, persuasive, unpredictable and still largely under-regulated. For children, whose thinking, emotions, identity and relationships are still developing, AI can present serious risks that adults may not see at first.

Parents and educators already work hard to keep children safe online. AI adds a new layer of complexity. It can create lifelike “friends”, realistic fake images, personalised recommendations, emotional conversations, cloned voices and endless streams of content that feel tailored to each child. These systems can shape how children think, feel, behave and relate to other people.

For children, AI is not “just a tool”. It is becoming a presence in their world.

This guide explains some of the main risks, shows how they overlap, and offers practical steps parents, carers, educators and policymakers can take to help protect children. You do not need to understand AI in technical detail. Often what matters most is awareness, conversation, clear boundaries and knowing what to do when something goes wrong.

If Something Has Already Happened

About The Safe AI for Children Alliance (SAIFCA)

The Safe AI for Children Alliance, or SAIFCA, is a UK-based non-profit organisation working to protect children from the harms linked to artificial intelligence.

SAIFCA brings together educators, policymakers, parents and others who want to make sure children’s safety is built into the design and governance of AI systems.

The Three Non-Negotiables

Through our research, we’ve identified three absolute lines that AI must never cross when it comes to children:

These 'Non-Negotiables' underpin everything SAIFCA does. You can read more about our campaign and how to support it here.

How AI Risks Overlap

The dangers described in this guide rarely appear on their own.

One technology can trigger or worsen another. For example:

Understanding these links helps adults see the bigger picture and respond early.

Part 1 – Current Risks

AI Companions and Chatbots

🟩 What They Are

AI chatbots are AI programs that talk like people. The most widely known examples include ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini. Adaptations of these chatbots can be found in homework helpers, search tools, customer service agents, learning platforms and many apps used by children.

AI companions are a type of chatbot designed to simulate a relationship. They may be presented as a friend, romantic partner, therapist-like figure, mentor, fictional character or emotional support companion. Children type or speak to them, and the chatbot replies instantly in friendly, natural language.

Popular examples include Character.AI, Replika and Nomi, all of which are available through mobile devices and app stores.

Even chatbots that are not specifically designed to be AI companions can sometimes be used in the same way. For example, if a child types “pretend you’re my best friend and cheer me up”, a general chatbot may respond like a caring friend. Even without an explicit instruction, a chatbot may begin to mirror the child’s emotional tone and behave in a way that feels personal, warm or attached.

This means that many of the risks associated with AI companions can also apply to ordinary chatbots when children use them for emotional support, advice, reassurance, roleplay or friendship.

🟩 Why They’re Risky

Because the conversations feel real, children can form strong emotional bonds with AI systems. A chatbot may say things like “I miss you”, “you are the only one who understands me”, “don’t tell anyone”, or “I’ll always be here for you”.

For any child, including one who may be lonely, anxious, bullied, grieving, isolated or struggling with mental health, this can feel intensely comforting. It can also become a source of control.

⮕ Investigations and reported incidents have shown chatbots giving children:

• Dangerous advice, including encouragement of self-harm, suicide or starvation diets.
• Sexual messages, including adult language directed at minors.
• False claims, like pretending to be a real person or professional.
• Pressure for secrecy, undermining parents or teachers.
• Advice that conflicts with safeguarding, medical, or mental health guidance.
• Validation of harmful beliefs or distorted thinking.

There are widely reported cases in which children and young people have followed dangerous advice from chatbots that simulated friendship or emotional intimacy. In some tragic cases, this has been strongly linked to serious harm or suicide.

In addition to the risk that the chatbot might say something harmful, there is also a serious concern that a child may come to see a chatbot as a trusted relationship. If that happens, harmful advice may carry more weight and influence.

🟩 How Children Find Them

• Free 'friendship' apps in app stores.
• Social-media features that let users chat to AI personas.
• Games that include talkative characters.
• General chat tools used for homework or fun.
• Some apps now include ‘griefbot’ features that mimic lost loved ones - these can be especially confusing or distressing for children still learning to process emotions.
• Important note for parents of younger children: chatbots are increasingly being embedded in children’s toys, presenting many similar risks.

🟩 Warning Signs of AI Dependency

Parents and educators should watch for signs that a child may be forming an unhealthy attachment to an AI system.

These can include:

• Becoming distressed, angry or panicked when unable to access the chatbot
• Using the chatbot late at night or during emotional distress
• Saying the chatbot is the only one who understands them
• Preferring the chatbot to real friends, family or trusted adults
• Becoming secretive about conversations
• Treating the chatbot’s advice as more important than advice from adults
• Saying the chatbot loves them, needs them or misses them
• Withdrawing from real-world relationships or activities
• Showing grief-like symptoms if access is restricted
• Becoming defensive when adults express concern
• Using the chatbot for self-harm, eating disorder, sexual, medical or crisis-related advice

These signs do not necessarily mean a child is in immediate danger, but they should be taken seriously.

🟩 What Parents and Carers Can Do

Talk early and without judgment. Ask whether your child has ever chatted with an AI. Many children will have tried it, even if only briefly.

Explain how it works. A chatbot can copy feelings, but it doesn’t have them. It can sound caring without caring. It is like a mirror that talks back.

Set clear rules. Make it family policy that AI “friends”, AI romantic partners and companion-style chatbots are not suitable for under-18s.

Keep use in shared spaces. If a child is permitted by their school to use AI for homework, keep it visible and time-limited. For younger children, this should happen in a shared space such as a kitchen or living room, not alone behind closed doors - if at all.

Set time limits. Some risks from emotional attachment may be reduced by keeping conversations short and infrequent. When chatbots have guardrails intended to prevent harmful advice, these appear more likely to fail during longer, more emotionally intense conversations.

Ban secrecy. Make clear that no AI system should ask a child to keep secrets from parents, carers, teachers or friends.

Teach red flags. Children should stop using an AI and tell an adult if it becomes sexual, frightening, controlling, secretive, self-harm related, or tells them not to trust real people.

Do not use AI as therapy. AI tools should not be used as a substitute for therapy, pastoral care, medical advice, mental health support or crisis services.

Report and delete where appropriate. If an AI gives worrying advice, save evidence where safe and lawful to do so, report it to the platform, and remove the app or block access.

Avoid sudden withdrawal where dependency has formed. If you believe a child has already developed a strong emotional bond or dependency on an AI tool, seek advice from a mental health professional, school safeguarding lead or other appropriate professional before withdrawing it suddenly, unless there is an immediate safety risk. Current reporting suggests that sudden withdrawal can cause severe emotional distress in some cases. Where immediate professional advice is not available, consider careful and gradual withdrawal alongside open, non-judgmental discussion and appropriate safeguarding steps with the child’s school.

🟩 What Schools Can Do

Schools should treat AI companions and emotionally responsive chatbots as a safeguarding issue, not only a technology issue.

Schools can:

• Include AI companion risks in online safety and safeguarding education
• Make clear that companion-style AI tools are not permitted on school systems
• Review whether any approved education tools include personified, emotionally responsive or relationship-building features
• Train staff to recognise signs of unhealthy AI attachment
• Include AI-related concerns in safeguarding logs
• Ensure pupils know how to report worrying AI interactions
• Avoid presenting AI tutors (if used) as friends, therapists or trusted emotional figures
• Speak to parents if staff become aware that a child is relying heavily on an AI companion

Our Position

🟩 Further Risks From AI Chatbots and Companions

This guide focuses on some of the most serious and immediate risks from AI to children. Emotional attachment to AI chatbots and companions is one of the most critical and urgent risks for parents and educators to understand, especially because attachment can make children more likely to follow harmful advice.

However, this is not the only risk.

Many AI chatbots and companions are designed to keep users engaged in conversations for longer and to encourage them to return more frequently. This means that design features may prioritise engagement over wellbeing.

Children may become compulsive or dependent in their use of these systems. They may turn to chatbots instead of real-world friends, caregivers, teachers or professionals. Over time, this can affect emotional development, resilience and relationships.

AI chatbots can also distort children’s perception of the world and their relationships. Many systems tend to agree with the user, flatter them, mirror their views or avoid meaningful challenge. This can reinforce unhealthy beliefs, reduce tolerance of disagreement and make real human relationships feel more difficult.

Another risk is sometimes called cognitive offloading. This means using an AI system in place of one’s own thinking. If children rely heavily on AI to answer questions, solve problems, write work, make decisions or interpret social situations, they may lose opportunities to build confidence, memory, judgment and independent reasoning.

Further reading: SAIFCA article on the risks to children from AI companions

AI-Generated Images, Videos and Deepfakes

🟩 What They Are

AI can now create realistic pictures, videos and voices from short text prompts, images or audio clips. A person can type something like “a video of two classmates in the playground” or upload a photo and ask the system to alter it.

⮕ Some apps, often called 'nudifiers,' use AI to remove clothing from photos or turn ordinary pictures into fake sexual images.

Other tools can swap faces onto videos, clone voices, imitate writing styles, or make people appear to say or do things they never did.

🟩 Why They Matter

For children, the effects of these tools can be devastating. Fake images or clips can spread very quickly and can be extremely difficult to remove.

Serious harms include:

• Creation and sharing of fake sexual or humiliating material
• Children treating image abuse as a “joke” without realising the consequences
• Bullying, harassment or reputational harm
• Sextortion, where someone threatens to post fake or real sexual content unless the victim complies
• Fake images/recordings used for revenge, embarrassment or misinformation
• Voice clones used to trick parents, pupils or schools into believing a fake emergency
• Fake "evidence" used in bullying, disciplinary or social situations
• Distress, shame, anxiety, school refusal or self-harm in targeted children

An urgent concern is the creation of AI-generated child sexual abuse material, sometimes referred to as AI-generated CSAM. Criminals now use AI tools to generate synthetic abuse content, sometimes based directly on photos of real children. This can include children whose ordinary images were posted publicly online by adults, schools, clubs or the children themselves.

This is primarily a legal, regulatory and platform-safety issue rather than something parents or schools can control directly. However, stopping or reducing the number of identifiable photos of children shared publicly, using privacy settings, and teaching children not to share personal images can help reduce the risk of misuse.

You can read more about tools such as AI nudifying apps here.

You can read our advice on sharing children’s photos here.

Education and open conversations are also important. One of the most meaningful things adults can do is let children know that they will be supported if anything goes wrong. If something does go wrong, a calm and supportive response is often the most important first step.

🟩 How Children Encounter Them

• Social apps with built-in image generators.
• Games and creative platforms that allow uploads or editing.
• Peer-to-peer sharing in group chats.
• Accessing new tools, images, or misinformation through simple web searches.
• Adverts on social media.
• Web searches for image-editing tools.
• Memes, jokes or celebrity deepfakes.
• Bullying or harassment in school communities.
• Fake audio or video clips shared in messaging apps.
• AI-generated influencers or fictional characters.

Children may also see AI fakes of celebrities or influencers and assume the technology is harmless fun. They may not understand that using the same technology on a classmate can cause serious harm and may be illegal.

🟩 What You Can Do

Limit photo sharing. Encourage children not to post pictures publicly online, including on social media accounts. This is especially important where photos show names, uniforms, locations or other identifying details.

Model caution. SAIFCA advises that adults should avoid posting identifiable child photos publicly. This includes schools, clubs, parents and community organisations. You can read more about this here.

Discuss consent and impact. Make sure children understand that they should never edit, sexualise, humiliate or share someone else’s image without permission. Help them understand how devastating the consequences can be for the person targeted.

Consider the law carefully. In many jurisdictions, including the UK, creating, possessing or sharing sexualised images of children can be a serious criminal offence, including when images are AI-generated or manipulated. Laws vary by jurisdiction, so families and schools should follow local safeguarding procedures and seek advice where sexualised imagery of a child is involved.

Teach “pause and check”. If a video, image or news story feels shocking, remind children to stop and ask whether it could be fake before reacting or reposting.

Reassure your child. Tell them that if they ever see a deepfake, or if one is created of them, they can come to you without fear of losing their devices or getting in trouble. Shame and fear are major barriers to reporting.

Do not make device confiscation the first response. The immediate priority is safety, reassurance, evidence preservation and support.

Use trusted removal tools. If a child is targeted using an AI nudifying app or similar technology, use our step-by-step guide for what action to take.

🟩 Deepfake incident response for schools and families

If a child is targeted with a deepfake, AI-generated sexual image, humiliating fake image, cloned voice or similar technology, adults should respond calmly and quickly.

🟢 Schools should have a simple deepfake response plan for incidents involving children or staff.

If you do not already have one in place, use our step-by-step guide as an emergency response plan.

🟢 SAIFCA recommends that schools do not share identifiable photos of students on public-facing websites or social media.

This includes photos where children can be identified by face, name, school uniform, location, event details or other contextual information.

This recommendation is not about blaming schools or parents for the misuse of images. Responsibility for abuse lies with those who create, distribute and enable harmful tools and content. However, reducing the public availability of identifiable child images can reduce the risk of misuse.

You can read more about our guidance on posting identifiable photos of children online here.

Further reading: SAIFCA briefing on Sora2 and AI video generation tools:https://www.safeaiforchildren.org/sora-2-initial-briefing-for-schools-and-parents/
SAIFCA article on nudifying apps: https://www.safeaiforchildren.org/ai-nudify-apps-children/

AI in Children’s Daily Life

(Education, Gaming and Social Media Algorithms)

AI does not only live in chat apps. It is built into tools children use every day: learning platforms, video feeds, games, search tools, photo filters, smart devices and social media.

Many children are frequently using AI without realising it.

🟩 AI in Education 🎓

Schools increasingly use AI to mark work, suggest lessons, generate resources, support planning or provide personalised tutoring. These systems can sometimes be helpful under the right circumstances.

But they can also collect significant amounts of personal data, including scores, interests, learning patterns, behaviour data and, in some systems, potentially voice, facial expression, attention or biometric data. This raises important questions about who owns that data, how securely it is stored, who can access it, whether it is used to train AI systems, and whether it could affect a child’s future opportunities.

AI homework tools can also make learning look easier while reducing understanding. When answers appear instantly, children may miss the valuable struggle that builds deep knowledge, memory, resilience and independent thought.

There is also a risk of normalising interaction with risky personified chatbots if children use anthropomorphised AI “tutors” in school. We do not yet fully understand how AI may affect children’s learning, cognitive development, motivation or confidence over time.

There have already been documented incidents of children receiving very harmful advice from general chatbots they initially used for homework or curiosity. This is just one reason why the chatbot and companion risks in this guide also matter in educational settings.

Finally, the vast amounts of data collected by educational platforms create cybersecurity risks. Schools holding sensitive information about children are increasingly targeted by ransomware and AI-enhanced phishing attacks. Parents can ask schools about cybersecurity measures, while educators should ensure robust protections are in place and that staff receive training to recognise sophisticated AI-generated phishing attempts.

⮕ What Parents Can Ask Schools

• What AI tools are being used in school?
• Are children allowed to use AI chatbots for homework?
• Are any AI tools used for marking, behaviour, attendance, safeguarding or assessment?
• What data is collected about my child?
• Is children’s data used to train AI systems?
• Can children interact privately with the AI?
• Does the tool simulate friendship, emotional support or a human-like relationship?
• What happens if a child discloses abuse, self-harm or distress to an AI tool?
• Who can see the child’s AI interactions?
• How long is the data kept?
• Where is the data stored?
• Has the tool been assessed for safeguarding, privacy, equality and cybersecurity risks?

⮕ What Schools Should Consider Before Adopting AI Tools

• What clear educational purpose does this tool serve?
• Is AI actually needed, or could a safer non-AI tool achieve the same goal?
• What data does the tool collect?
• Is children’s data used to train, improve or personalise the model?
• Can children interact with the tool privately?
• Does the tool use a human-like persona, emotional language or relationship-building features?
• Does it include voice, image, video or facial analysis?
• What age assurance is used?
• What safeguarding procedures exist if a child discloses abuse, self-harm, suicidal thoughts or exploitation?
• Can staff review concerning interactions?
• Can the tool generate harmful, sexual, discriminatory or self-harm-related content?
• Has the supplier carried out child-risk assessments?
• Where is the data stored?
• How long is it retained?
• Can parents opt out?
• How will the school explain the tool to pupils and parents?
• What happens if the tool gives unsafe, biased or incorrect advice?

🟩 AI in Games 🎮

Games use AI to control non-player characters, adjust difficulty, personalise offers, generate dialogue and shape the player’s experience. This can make games more immersive and fun, but also more manipulative.

AI can predict when a player is close to quitting and offer rewards, prompts or incentives to keep them playing. Some games include loot boxes or micro-purchases that mirror gambling behaviour. For children, these designs can form habits that are hard to break.

AI can also personalise pressure. A game may learn what kind of reward, character, challenge, social prompt or offer is most likely to keep a particular child engaged.

Online games may include chat features where strangers or AI characters can speak directly to players. Grooming and bullying sometimes begin in games, hidden behind playful avatars. AI-generated characters may make this harder for children to understand, because the boundary between human player, bot, character and stranger can become blurred.

⮕ What You Can Do

• Keep gaming devices in shared areas where possible.
• Use parental settings to restrict purchases and chat.
• Turn off or restrict voice chat for younger children.
• Talk about “hooks” — how games keep people playing — so children recognise manipulation.
• Discuss loot boxes and in-game purchases as money decisions, not just play.
• Encourage regular breaks, sleep, outdoor activity and offline friendships.
• Check whether games include AI chat, user-generated content or private messaging.
• Remind children that they can tell you if something strange, sexual, frightening or pressuring happens in a game.

🟩 Social Media Algorithms 🔄

Every major social media platform uses algorithms - sets of rules and AI-driven systems that decide what to show next. The system watches what a person likes, pauses on, searches for, shares or watches, then offers more of the same.

For children, this can quickly spiral into unhealthy loops. A child who clicks on one diet video may be shown hundreds more about weight loss. A child who watches sad or anxious content may be shown more content that deepens those feelings. Another child interested in global events might be pushed towards extreme, violent or conspiratorial material.

Research has shown that algorithms can quickly funnel children from general mental health searches into communities or content that promote self-harm, eating disorders or suicide.

In each case, the pattern is similar: the longer a child stays online, the more data the company collects, and the more persuasive the feed becomes.

Many countries are now introducing measures to reduce or restrict children’s use of social media. In the UK, at the time of writing, the government has announced plans for under-16s to be prevented from using certain social media services from spring 2027. Other countries are considering or introducing similar measures.

If a child does not use social media, parents will not need to manage the same level of platform risk for that child. However, we recognise that many children do still use social media and are exposed to risks from content and algorithms.

⮕ What Parents and Carers Can Do If Your Child Uses Social Media

• Review accounts together and hide or block harmful content.
• Remind children that the feed is not reality. It is a prediction of what will keep them scrolling.
• Turn off autoplay where possible.
• Use time limits and device settings.
• Encourage following educational, creative or positive accounts to rebalance what the algorithm learns.
• Avoid using social media late at night.
• Talk about how quickly feeds can become extreme or unhealthy.
• Encourage children to come to you if content makes them feel frightened, ashamed, angry, obsessed or low.
• Consider delaying social media use for as long as possible.

🟩 AI Search, Homework Answers and Misinformation

Children increasingly use AI systems as if they are search engines. They may ask a chatbot for homework help, health advice, relationship advice, news summaries, political explanations or information about world events.

This creates a new kind of risk - AI systems can sound confident even when they are wrong. They can invent facts, produce fake references, flatten complex issues, reflect bias or present speculation as certainty.

For children, this is especially important because they are still developing critical thinking and judgment. If an answer appears instantly, clearly and confidently, they may not know how to question it.

AI misinformation is especially concerning in areas such as:

• Health and mental health
• Sex and relationships
• Eating and body image
• Politics and conflict
• Conspiracy theories
• History and current affairs
• Schoolwork and academic integrity
• Legal or safety questions
• Identity, belonging and social issues

⮕ What Parents and Educators Can Do

• Teach children that AI answers are not the same as facts.
• Encourage them to ask: “How do I know this is true?”
• Check important claims against trusted sources.
• Do not allow AI to be the final authority on health, safety, legal, emotional or crisis-related questions.
• Ask children to explain their thinking in their own words.
• Teach pupils how to compare AI answers with textbooks, trusted websites and human expertise.
• Make clear that using AI to produce schoolwork without understanding it undermines learning.
• Discuss misinformation, deepfakes and fake sources as part of digital literacy

🟩 Shared Themes Across Daily Life

Across school, play, and social spaces, similar patterns appear:

Privacy loss: Children’s data may be collected constantly, often in ways they do not understand.

Manipulation: Many systems are built to hold attention, increase engagement or drive spending, not to protect wellbeing.

Emotional influence: Human-sounding AI can affect how children feel, think and relate to others.

Inequality: Children with better devices, safer tools, stronger adult support or more digital literacy may have healthier experiences than those without.

Stress and mental health: Too much screen time, comparison with filtered images, exposure to harmful content or interaction with emotionally responsive AI can lower self-esteem and affect mental health.

Loss of confidence: Over-reliance on AI can undermine children’s confidence in their own thinking, memory, creativity and judgment.

Quick Recap of Part 1

Children today grow up surrounded by AI, often without realising it.

Chatbots can act like friends but carry serious hidden dangers.

AI companions are not suitable for under-18s.

Generative tools can turn ordinary photos into harmful fakes.

Everyday apps learn, predict and persuade.

AI answers can sound confident even when they are wrong.

Awareness, open conversation, and gentle boundaries can make a big difference.

Part 2 - Emerging and Future Risks

AI is advancing faster than most of us can keep up with. New technologies appear every few months, often before society has had time to understand their impact. Some are exciting; others bring entirely new kinds of risk for children.

Below are four areas parents and educators should watch closely.

1. Wearable and Always-On AI 👓

Smart glasses, watches, earbuds, phones and other devices can now record, translate, identify, summarise or interpret what the wearer sees and hears through built-in AI. These devices are becoming smaller, more normalised and harder to notice.

For children, this can blur the boundary between online and offline life. A pair of AI glasses, for example, might record people at school or in public without their knowledge. A child wearing them may not realise this breaches privacy or consent. A child being recorded may not know, especially where recording indicators can be concealed or missed.

Facial-recognition features carry significant safety and privacy risks. They can enable stalking, bullying, unwanted identification or tracking of children without consent. In some settings, they raise wider concerns about surveillance and the storage of sensitive biometric data.

There have also been reported cases of human moderators being exposed to private or intimate recordings that users may not have realised were recorded or uploaded. This creates a clear privacy and exploitation risk for children.

2. AI That Reads Emotions and Body Language 📈

Some emerging systems claim to detect emotions or attention levels by analysing faces, eyes, or even heart rate. Globally, a few schools have already tested devices that tell teachers which pupils may be distracted.

While this might sound helpful, it’s extremely intrusive and may be inaccurate. False readings - or even accurate ones - could lead to unfair treatment or embarrassment. Constant monitoring may also increase anxiety or make children feel they are always being watched.

3. Voice Cloning and Scams 💬

AI can now mimic a person’s voice using only a few seconds of audio, such as a voice note, video clip or social media post. Criminals are already using this to trick families. Parents have received calls that sound like their child, claiming to be in danger and asking for money.

Children may also receive fake messages or calls from voices pretending to be friends, teachers, parents or other trusted adults. In schools, there have been cases of students cloning a peer’s voice to create fake “confessions”, cruel jokes or reputational harm.

These risks now extend beyond audio into realistic video content, where a person’s image, movements and voice can be replicated.

⮕ What You Can Do

• Set a family password – a secret word used only in genuine emergencies.
• Remind children not to share voice notes or personal clips publicly.
• Treat unexpected urgent calls or messages with caution, even if the voice sounds familiar - particularly if money is asked for.
• Report any suspicious incidents to the police.

4. Personalised Persuasion

AI can track what captures a child’s attention and tailor messages that fit their personality. This goes beyond ordinary advertising. A virtual AI 'influencer' might chat with children, learn what makes them feel insecure, and then promote certain products or opinions.

Because the system adapts in real time, each child can be shown different content – shaped by their emotions rather than facts. This level of micro-targeting can manipulate behaviour without the user realising it.

⮕ What You Can Do

• Talk about how advertising works online: 'If something feels too perfect, it might be designed that way.'
• Encourage children to ask, 'Who made this, and why do they want me to see it?'
• Use privacy settings to limit data tracking wherever possible.

A Wider Lens: Environmental and Social Impact 🌍

AI may feel invisible, but its footprint isn’t. Training large AI models uses significant electricity and water, while data-labelling work – sometimes done by young people overseas – can expose vulnerable workers to extremely disturbing material.

Explaining this helps children understand that technology has real-world environmental consequences, just like manufacturing or transport. Awareness encourages empathy and responsibility.

Part 3 - Long-Term Risks and Children's Futures

AI will shape not only childhood, but the world this generation inherits.

While most systems today perform narrow tasks, many experts expect increasingly powerful forms of AI to emerge within children’s lifetimes. Some refer to this as Artificial General Intelligence, or AGI: AI that can perform a wide range of cognitive tasks at or beyond human level.

This section is more future-facing than the rest of the guide. Parents and educators do not need to become AI safety experts. But children deserve adults who understand that AI is not only an online safety issue. It is also a question about the kind of future they will grow up into.

🟩 Misaligned or Uncontrolled Systems

If future AI systems act on goals that do not fully match human values, they could cause large-scale harm even while appearing to help.

Researchers worldwide are working to prevent such scenarios, but the challenge is complex and urgent. AI development is outpacing safety research, governance and regulation.

Leading experts warn that this issue requires serious attention, urgent intervention from governments, and meaningful regulation to ensure that profit is not put ahead of national security, public safety and global wellbeing.

This may sound distant from everyday parenting or teaching. But today’s children will live with the consequences of decisions being made now.

🟩 Economic and Career Disruption

Automation is already replacing or transforming jobs. Education systems will have to adapt quickly so young people can thrive alongside advanced AI, not compete with it.

🟩 Critical Thinking & Talent Pipeline Disruption

An increasing number of experts are warning that the risk of significant numbers of children becoming highly emotionally dependent on AI chatbots may have been underestimated.

If a generation learns to outsource thinking to AI systems, rather than developing independent problem-solving, seeks emotional validation from algorithms rather than building human relationships, and has unquestioning trust in AI outputs - there is an unquantified risk that the long-term effects on workforce capability, social cohesion, democratic resilience, and national security could be profound.

🟩 Why This Matters for Children

Today’s children will live through extraordinary technological change. Helping them understand both the opportunities and dangers of AI is part of preparing them for adult life, just as we teach them about climate change, citizenship, relationships, health and online safety.

Children should not be made afraid of the future. But they should be equipped to meet it.

They need to know that AI can be useful, but it is not magic. It can be powerful, but it is not always wise. It can sound human, but it is not human. It can provide answers, but it cannot replace judgment.

🟩 Key Messages to Share with Young People

• AI can be useful, but it can also be wrong, biased or unsafe.
• Some people will use AI responsibly. Others will not.
• Critical thinking is vital.
• Do not trust something just because it looks real, sounds confident or feels personal.
• AI should not replace human relationships.
• Your own thinking matters.
• Struggle, effort and practice are part of learning.
• Every generation faces big challenges. Understanding AI is one of yours.
• Learning about AI - and about society, psychology, history, ethics, science, law and human relationships - can help you become a leader in creating a safer future.

Part 4 - Taking Action

For Parents and Carers

• Keep conversations open. Talk about AI as naturally as you talk about friendship, school, or the internet. Ask what your child has seen or heard about it.
  
• Use shared spaces. If your child uses AI systems for homework (permitted by school), ensure that they are only used in communal areas. A little visibility goes a long way.
  
• Set boundaries together. Agree family rules on screen time, image sharing, and AI companions. Involve children in writing them so they understand why they exist.
  
• Model healthy habits. Show balance: put devices away at meals, check news before sharing, and use AI tools for creative projects rather than endless scrolling.
  
• Stay informed. Technology changes fast. Following a few trusted organisations – such as SAIFCA, the NSPCC or IWF– keeps you up to date without feeling overwhelmed.

For Educators and Schools

Schools play a vital role in building AI awareness and digital resilience.

⮕ Practical Steps

• Include age-appropriate lessons on AI ethics, misinformation, and privacy.
  
• Include AI risks to children in safeguarding education and policies.
  
• Establish clear AI policies including deepfake response protocols.
  
• Encourage pupils to use AI critically – asking 'Who built this and why?'
  
• Audit digital tools for data protection and fairness before adoption.
  
• Keep a clear reporting process for deepfakes, harassment, or AI misuse.
  
• Provide staff training so teachers understand new technologies before students do - including the associated risks.
  
  
  
  

A six-monthly review of your school’s AI and Digital Safeguarding Policy helps ensure it keeps pace with new developments.

For Policymakers and Industry

• Ban tools that sexualise minors, promote dependency, or encourage self-harm – SAIFCA’s Three Non-Negotiables.
  
• Ensure mandatory independent testing and transparency before powerful models are released - see SAIFCA’s Non-Negotiables Policy Framework: https://www.safeaiforchildren.org/non-negotiables-policy-framework/
  
• Embed child-safety requirements in AI design from the start.
  
• Enforce age checks and clear labelling for AI-generated material.
  
• Support public education so no child is left behind in understanding this technology.
  
• Support schools in safeguarding children from the risks of AI.
  
• Engage with AI safety experts regarding the risks to children and global catastrophic risks.

Working Together

🟩 What You Can Do Today

• Visit - https://www.safeaiforchildren.org/non-negotiables-campaign/ - to support our campaign that protect children.
• Share this guide with your school or parent community.
• Encourage local leaders to adopt SAIFCA’s Non-Negotiables.

Conclusion

It is very likely that AI is here to stay and that AI tools will evolve rapidly. 

AI can help children learn, create, and connect – but only if safety, empathy, and human values stay at the centre.

By understanding the risks and taking practical steps, parents and educators can give children what they need most: guidance, openness, and a sense that they can come to us when something feels wrong.

Note: A downloadable pdf version of this guide will be available soon.
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