Me, Myself & AI: Understanding and Safeguarding Children's Use of AI Chatbots
A UK mixed-methods study of children's use of AI chatbots, combining a survey of children and parents, focus groups with 13-17-year-olds, and 17-day user-testing of ChatGPT, Snapchat My AI, and Character.AI using child avatars. It documents usage patterns, advice-seeking, companionship, and safety gaps.
Publisher
Internet Matters
Published
1 Jul 2025
Added
3 months ago
DOI
—
Key Findings
- Two-thirds of children aged 9-17 have used AI chatbots (most popular: ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Snapchat My AI)
- 23% use chatbots for advice (from hairstyles to mental health), and two in five who use a chatbot have no concerns about following its advice
- Vulnerable children show elevated reliance, with 50% saying it feels like talking to a friend
- User-testing surfaced filtering failures exposing children to age-inappropriate content
Methodology Notes
Mixed-methods NGO research: survey (1,000 children + 2,000 parents), focus groups (ages 13-17), and 17-day platform user-testing with child avatars, plus expert consultation. Published July 2025 (day-level precision unavailable; normalized to the 1st).
Sources
Internet Matters research page(opens in a new tab) (primary)
Full report PDF(opens in a new tab)
Archived snapshot (Wayback Machine)(opens in a new tab) — preserved against link rot
Topics
Tags
Cite This
APA
Internet Matters. (2025). Me, Myself & AI: Understanding and Safeguarding Children's Use of AI Chatbots. https://www.internetmatters.org/hub/research/me-myself-and-ai-chatbot-research/
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