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AI companions and chatbots

Whether your child may use AI chatbots and companion apps, from none before 18 to supervised general assistants to open use.

Should our child use AI companions and chatbots?

In short: Parents choose between 4 main approaches: No companion apps before 18; General-purpose assistants only, supervised; Allowed with regular open conversation; Unrestricted. Evidence: new territory. Guidance is running ahead of the research. Best settled: school age.

Evidence
New territory
Best settled
School age
Part of
Learning & the wider world

AI companions and chatbots: what are the options?

Parents usually land on one of these 4 approaches.

  1. 1. No companion apps before 18

    The child may not use apps built to act as a friend or partner until adulthood.

  2. 2. General-purpose assistants only, supervised

    The child may use general assistants such as homework helpers, with an adult nearby.

  3. 3. Allowed with regular open conversation

    The child may use them, and you talk regularly about what they are doing.

  4. 4. Unrestricted

    The child uses them without limits.

AI companions and chatbots: what does the evidence say?

New territory. Guidance is running ahead of the research. (Emerging; guidance ahead of evidence)

The AAP (page dated June 2026) recommends against companion chatbots for under-18s, citing Common Sense Media's assessment, and flags risks for young teens: engagement-maximizing design that flatters and can displace real friendships, overreliance for emotional support, privacy and data collection, and poor crisis responses. Its advice to parents is to stay open and curious rather than purely prohibitive, watch for changes in sleep or withdrawal, use the strictest privacy settings, and include chatbots in the family media plan. Regulation is arriving: California's SB 243, in effect since January 1, 2026, requires companion chatbots to tell minors they are talking to AI and to follow suicide-response protocols, and the FTC has ordered seven companies to disclose their practices. Long-term data on effects are still thin

Sources

What else is worth knowing?

Companion apps are chatbots designed to act like a friend or partner, and general assistants answer questions and help with tasks. Child-safety groups have raised concerns about companion apps for minors. This is a new area and guidance is still forming.

Questions to ask each other

  • What do we know about AI chatbots and what worries us?
  • What would we allow and what would we never allow?
  • How would we talk about it with our child?

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First published 2026-10-03. Last updated 2026-10-05. General information, not medical advice.