Background and insight
Lifehacker has examined the safety of seven of the biggest AI chatbots for children. The question matters because a chatbot can sound personal and persuasive even though it is not human and may give inaccurate, inappropriate or incomplete answers. Safety features and rules can differ between services and change over time.
A technical filter may reduce risk, but it cannot guarantee that every unsuitable answer or situation will be caught. Children may also share personal information without understanding how a service handles it. Parents should therefore treat chatbot use as part of a child’s digital life, rather than assuming a tool is automatically safe because it has a child setting or filter.
What does this mean for your everyday life?
For families, safer use is about both content and habits: what a child asks, what they share, how long they use the service, and whether they know whom to talk to if an answer feels unsettling or strange. A calm conversation may be more useful than a blanket ban that encourages a child to hide their use.
💡 How to use this knowledge
- Before a child uses a chatbot, review its age rules, privacy settings and parental controls together. Agree that they will not share their full name, address, school, passwords, photos or other sensitive information.
- Try the service together and set a simple rule: AI can help with ideas and explanations, but important advice about health, safety or serious problems should be checked with a trusted adult or reliable source. Make clear that the child can report disturbing answers without being scolded.