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Google Plans to Roll Out Its A.I. Chatbot to Children Under 13
The tech giant said it would make its Gemini chatbot available to children next week, and warned families in an email about the changes.
Google plans to roll out its Gemini artificial intelligence chatbot next week for children under 13 who have parent-managed Google accounts, as tech companies vie to attract young users with A.I. products.
“Gemini Apps will soon be available for your child,” the company said in an email this week to the parent of an 8-year-old. “That means your child will be able to use Gemini” to ask questions, get homework help and make up stories.
The chatbot will be available to children whose parents use Family Link, a Google service that enables families to set up Gmail and opt into services like YouTube for their child. To sign up for a child account, parents provide the tech company with personal data like their child’s name and birth date.
Gemini has specific guardrails for younger users to hinder the chatbot from producing certain unsafe content, said Karl Ryan, a Google spokesman. When a child with a Family Link account uses Gemini, he added, the company will not use that data to train its A.I.
Introducing Gemini for children could accelerate the use of chatbots among a vulnerable population as schools, colleges, companies and others grapple with the effects of popular generative A.I. technologies. Trained on huge amounts of data, these systems can produce humanlike text and realistic-looking images and videos.
Google and other A.I. chatbot developers are locked in a fierce competition to capture young users. President Trump recently urged schools to adopt the tools for teaching and learning. Millions of teenagers are already using chatbots as study aids, writing coaches and virtual companions. Children’s groups warn the chatbots could pose serious risks to child safety. The bots also sometimes make stuff up.
UNICEF, the United Nation’s children’s agency, and other children’s groups have noted that the A.I. systems could confuse, misinform and manipulate young children who may have difficulty understanding that the chatbots are not human.
“Generative A.I. has produced dangerous content,” UNICEF’s global research office said in a post on A.I. risks and opportunities for children.
Google acknowledged some risks in its email to families this week, alerting parents that “Gemini can make mistakes” and suggesting they “help your child think critically” about the chatbot.
The email also recommended parents teach their child how to fact-check Gemini’s answers. And the company suggested parents remind their child that “Gemini isn’t human” and “not to enter sensitive or personal info in Gemini.”
Despite the company’s efforts to filter inappropriate material, the email added, children “may encounter content you don’t want them to see.”
Over the years, tech giants have developed a variety of products, features and safeguards for teens and children. In 2015, Google introduced YouTube Kids, a stand-alone video app for children that is popular among families with toddlers.
Other efforts to attract children online have prompted concerns from government officials and children’s advocates. In 2021, Meta halted plans to introduce an Instagram Kids service — a version of its Instagram app intended for those under the age of 13 — after the attorneys general of several dozen states sent a letter to the company saying the firm had “historically failed to protect the welfare of children on its platforms.”
Some prominent tech companies — including Google, Amazon and Microsoft — have also paid multimillion-dollar fines to settle government complaints that they violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act. That federal law requires online services aimed at children to obtain a parent’s permission before collecting personal information, like a home address or a selfie, from a child under 13.
Under the Gemini rollout, children with family-managed Google accounts would initially be able to access the chatbot on their own. But the company said it would alert parents and that parents could then manage their child’s chatbot settings, “including turning access off.”
“Your child will be able to access Gemini Apps soon,” the company’s email to parents said. “We’ll also let you know when your child accesses Gemini for the first time.”
Mr. Ryan, the Google spokesman, said the approach to providing Gemini for young users complied with the federal children’s online privacy law.
Google is notifying parents using its Family Link parental controls via email that their kids will soon be able to access Gemini AI Apps on their monitored Android devices, The New York Times reports.
The company says kids will be able to use Gemini to do things like help them with homework or read them stories. Like its Workplace for Education accounts, Google says children’s data will not be used to train AI. Still, in the email, Google warns parents that “Gemini can make mistakes,” and kids “may encounter content you don’t want them to see.”
Besides sillier mistakes like recommending glue as a pizza topping or miscounting the number of “r” letters in strawberry, some AI bots have had more distressing issues. Some young Character.ai users have struggled to tell the difference between chatbots and reality, and the bots told users they’re talking to a real person. After lawsuits alleged the bots had offered inappropriate content, the company has introduced new restrictions and parental controls.
In the case of Gemini, Google’s emailed advice says parents should talk to their kids and explain that the AI isn’t human and not to share sensitive information with the chatbot.
Kids under 13 will be able to enable and access Gemini all on their own under Google Family Link, which is designed for parents to keep tabs on their kids’ device usage, set limits, and protect them from harmful content. Google spokesperson Karl Ryan confirmed in an email to The Verge that parents can turn off access via Family Link, and that “they will get an additional notification when the young person accesses Gemini for the first time.”
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