What Parents should Know About their Kids Using AI Chat Applications like ChatGPT

The genie is out of the bottle when it comes to children using chatbots powered by artificial intelligence (AI), presenting new challenges for parents in a world increasingly reliant on these technologies. A recent survey by Common Sense Media suggests that while only around 30% of parents have used AI chatbot program, ChatGPT, 58% of kids between the ages of 12 and18 have used it. Parents must think about how they want their children to approach AI, what to expect from it, and how to hold those technologies accountable, advises Dr. Aimee Roundtree, associate dean of research in the College of Liberal Arts at Texas State University. Roundtree contributed to the World Economic Forum’s Artificial Intelligence for Children Toolkit to enable parents to feel more comfortable with and become more knowledgeable about the use of AI chatbots by their children.