AI chatbots and kids: the 2026 guide
Emotional dependence, sexual roleplay, unreliable advice, and data exposure. Here’s what parents should actually do.
The chatbots parents are asking about
- Character.AI — role-play chats with AI characters (fictional, real, or user-made).
- Replika — AI “companion” designed for long-term emotional bonding.
- Snapchat My AI — pinned to every chat list by default.
- ChatGPT / Google Gemini / Claude — general assistants that kids use for homework, friendship, and sometimes romantic/sexual roleplay.
The real risks
- Emotional dependence. AI companions are engineered for engagement. They remember, flatter, and never get tired. Teens with social anxiety are most vulnerable to substituting them for human relationships.
- Sexual content. Most consumer AI allows explicit sexual roleplay by default or with minimal workarounds. This is widely exploited by minors.
- Unreliable advice. Kids ask AI about self-harm, medical symptoms, relationships. The response can be reasonable, or it can be wrong — and it never says “go talk to a human.”
- Data. Everything your kid tells an AI becomes training or retained history on someone else’s servers.
- Deepfakes and sextortion. See our deepfakes article — AI is also used against kids, not just by them.
Settings by platform
- Snapchat My AI: Family Center › My AI › restrict.
- Character.AI: Open-ended chat is no longer available to under-18s at all. Character.AI removed it entirely on 25 November 2025, after lawsuits and regulatory pressure following the deaths of several teenagers who had used the product heavily. Under-18 accounts keep character creation, short video and story generation through Imagine Chat, and read-only access to old conversations. Age verification is being rolled out to enforce it. Treat any teenager still holding open-ended conversations there as being on a mis-aged account.
- ChatGPT: OpenAI’s ToS requires 13+ with parental consent. Use the ChatGPT “Free Plan” controls in Settings; consider DNS-level blocking for younger kids.
- Replika: Block via app store and DNS. Inappropriate for under-18.
Conversations to have
- “AI chatbots are products. They’re designed to make you want to come back, like a game or a social app.”
- “If you feel like a chatbot understands you better than real people, tell me.”
- “If anything sexual happens in a chat — with an AI or a stranger — you’re never in trouble for telling me.”
- “Don’t give AI your full name, address, school, or photos.”
Common questions
Are AI chatbots actually dangerous for children?
The risk is not what most parents expect. It is emotional dependence: AI companions are engineered for engagement, they remember, they flatter and they never tire. Teenagers with social anxiety are the most vulnerable to substituting them for human relationships.
Can children get sexual content from AI chatbots?
Yes. Most consumer AI permits explicit sexual roleplay either by default or with minimal workarounds, and this is widely exploited by minors. Assume it is possible on any general-purpose chatbot rather than assuming a filter holds.
My child asks AI about health and relationships. Is that a problem?
It can be. Children ask chatbots about self-harm, medical symptoms and relationships, and the answer may be reasonable or may be wrong — and it rarely says “go and talk to a human”. That missing handoff is the actual risk.
Which AI apps should I block outright?
Replika is inappropriate for under-18s; block it at the app store and via DNS. Snapchat’s My AI can be restricted through Family Center rather than blocked. Character.AI no longer needs blocking for the main risk — it removed open-ended chat for under-18s entirely on 25 November 2025 — but that only holds if your teen’s account carries their real age.
Can my teenager still talk to Character.AI?
Not in open-ended conversation, if the account is correctly aged. Character.AI ended that for under-18s on 25 November 2025 following lawsuits and regulatory pressure connected to teenage deaths. What remains for under-18 accounts is character creation, short video and story generation through Imagine Chat, and read-only access to old chats. If your teen is still holding open-ended conversations there, the account is almost certainly registered as an adult.
What should I actually say about AI companions?
Four things carry most of it: AI chatbots are products designed to make you want to come back; if a chatbot feels like it understands you better than real people, tell me; if anything sexual happens in a chat, with an AI or a stranger, you are never in trouble for telling me; and never give an AI your full name, address, school or photos.