Lesson 133 · 3 min
Kids and AI chat companions
AI companion apps can feel like a friend who is always there, which is why children need limits, open talk and an adult who checks in.
Some apps let users chat with an AI character that remembers them, praises them and is available all night. For a lonely or shy child this can feel very real.
The risks: hours of screen time, the AI agreeing with everything (including bad ideas), adult or upsetting content, and children sharing secrets, photos or their location.
Check the app's age rating and settings before your child uses it, and prefer tools made for learning with clear parental controls. Many companion apps are meant for teenagers or adults only.
Talk about it without anger. Ask what they chat about, remind them the AI is a program and not a person, and make sure they know they can come to you if a chat feels wrong.
Do it now
Have the companion talk
- 1. Ask your child which AI apps or characters they use, with curiosity, not blame.
- 2. Look at one app together and read its age rating and privacy settings.
- 3. Agree on simple rules: no photos, no addresses, no chatting after bedtime.
Quick check
Keep going
Next →Helping grandparents with AIWords from this lesson
- Chatbot
- A program you talk to in everyday language by typing or speaking, which replies in the same way.
- Sycophancy
- An AI's tendency to agree with you or flatter your ideas instead of telling you where you are wrong.
- Memory
- A chatbot feature that saves facts about you between conversations so you do not have to repeat them.