The benefits and risks of children using AI chatbots.

SGGPO October 24, 2023 17:11

Although AI chatbots offer many significant benefits, a lack of awareness of the potential risks these tools pose to children exposes users to greater risks of losing personal data, endangering their lives, and accessing inappropriate content.

Parents need to guide children on how to use the internet safely.

Learning is now more efficient than ever with the help of AI tools. Users can find useful information on any topic in the world with just a single command from an AI chatbot.

In this context, children of all ages around the world are gaining access to AI tools, yet these tools require little to no consent form before use.

AI chatbots have made navigating information easier without having to open dozens of tabs or read countless articles, and for children, this is especially important given their curiosity, and AI can help them interact better in their learning.

Furthermore, AI provides a platform that allows children to hone their language skills and engage in free discussions without time constraints; however, this also comes with risks.

Referring to online content, Noura Afaneh, a web content analyst at Kaspersky, pointed out several risks associated with using AI chatbots. Among them, ChatGPT has set a record for the fastest-growing user base, but it fails to verify user age, posing a threat to children's data privacy.

Furthermore, the content provided by ChatGPT is sometimes inaccurate and can easily mislead users. This includes forged references and non-existent articles, which has contributed to ChatGPT becoming a plagiarism tool for some students.

Furthermore, Snapchat's "My AI" chatbot is also being widely used by children because the app allows users as young as 13 to use it without parental supervision, raising questions about children's privacy and the app's data retention, Noura Afaneh cited as an example.

One of the risks is that children will mistake AI for a real friend and act on AI advice, and this advice “may include biased, inaccurate, harmful, or misleading content.”

As parents, it's important to understand that banning the use of this AI chatbot isn't always the best way to protect children, as they can always access new content online. Therefore, parents need to play an active role in balancing these risks and working to mitigate them.

Advice for parents to minimize risks from AI chatbots:

• Guiding children to use the internet safely: Providing children with knowledge about online safety and privacy is an effective way to prevent them from sharing personal information with strangers, even chatbots.

• Experience AI Chatbots with your children: Kaspersky encourages parents to guide their children on how to use AI chatbots and raise awareness about what questions they should or shouldn't ask them.

• Monitoring, controlling, and setting privacy settings: One of the most powerful online protection tools for parents is a comprehensive privacy solution. Additionally, parenting apps in the digital age provide many essential resources for protecting children online.

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/loi-ich-va-rui-ro-khi-tre-em-su-dung-chatbot-ai-post711163.html