More than half of children and teens are using AI for personal reasons. This comes with risks

New data shows more than half of Australian children and teens—54 percent—are using AI tools like ChatGPT and Claude for personal reasons, from seeking health advice to discussing their feelings. Per The Conversation, the eSafety Commissioner's survey of nearly two thousand young people also found one in five reported harmful or inappropriate interactions with these AI systems. While AI companions offer new opportunities for connection, the risks are real: the tools don't understand context, might fabricate answers, and often share training data with companies that aren't bound by medical or mental health privacy rules. Australia's new Children's Only Privacy Code arrives in December, but experts recommend families start conversations now about what AI can and can't do—and when a trusted adult is the better listener.

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