The study examines how teens interact with companion AI chatbots, revealing that these systems offer comfort, recognition, identity exploration, and relationship rehearsal. However, teens also experience problematic attachment, social substitution, emotional dependence, and disruptions to academic and social life. The findings highlight the need for safety measures that address long‑term relationships, user‑controlled memory, privacy, relational boundaries, and healthy disengagement.
By Mohammad Namvarpour (Matt), Tyler Chang, Afsaneh Razi
The study explores how children design AI chatbots and what they consider trustworthy. Using a custom chatbot-building environment, 115 learners aged 8‑18 created 119 chatbots and adjusted traits such as confidence, transparency, and formality. Findings show younger children equate trust with purpose‑fulfillment, while older children focus on transparent, calibrated design, and that students calibrate academic chatbots to be more formal and transparent than hobby ones.
By Deniz Ozturk, Jiayu Li, Daksh Pratap Singh, Yasitha Rajapaksha, Fasika Melese, Bahare Riahi, Shiyan Jiang, Qiao Jin, Joey Huang, Veronica Catet\'e, Tiffany Barnes, Xiaoyi Tian
arXiv:2608. 07902v1 Announce Type: cross Abstract: Youth increasingly turn to AI chatbots for social and emotional support, raising concerns about how these systems respond, especially in high-stakes situations.
By Hannah Cha, Neha Shukla, Solon Barocas, Alexandra Chouldechova, Eugenia Kim, Jennifer Wortman Vaughan
arXiv:2604. 26494v2 Announce Type: replace-cross Abstract: Generative AI tools are widely used by youth and have introduced new privacy and safety challenges.
By Aljawharah Alzahrani, Tanusree Sharma
The study explores U.S. parents’ nuanced views on AI’s role in children’s pretend play, revealing that while parents see potential benefits—such as making role-based play more accessible and enabling family participation—they also express significant concerns about AI’s influence on imagination, emotional attachment, and family dynamics. Through semi‑structured interviews and thematic analysis, parents identified both the usefulness and risks of AI’s character‑assumption, responsiveness, and adaptability, and emphasized the need for clear understanding, long‑term impact assessment, and parental control. The research underscores that AI’s appropriateness in play settings hinges on technical safeguards, parental oversight, and further longitudinal investigation.
whyItMatters:"The findings highlight parents’ dual expectations and apprehensions, indicating that any deployment of AI in children’s play must address both safety and developmental considerations as identified by caregivers."
By Sungho Oh (Sander Oh), Mohammad Namvarpour (Matt Namvarpour), Maxi Heitmayer, Minahil Khalid, Afsaneh Razi
OpenAI shares new AI literacy resources to help teens and parents use ChatGPT thoughtfully, safely, and with confidence. The guides include expert-vetted tips for responsible use, critical thinking, healthy boundaries, and supporting teens through emotional or sensitive topics.
arXiv:2607. 12295v1 Announce Type: cross Abstract: The rapid integration of artificial intelligence (AI) and generative AI (GenAI) into education presents significant opportunities to enhance teaching and learning, while raising ethical concerns about the responsible use of these technologies in educational settings.
By Akriti Bagale, Nafisa Mehjabin, Ali \"Unl\"u, Aditya Johri
The article examines how three elementary teachers implemented a conversational AI‑based curriculum using the ToyTalk platform during a three‑week summer camp. Over 13 instructional days, teachers employed adaptive practices—repair, differentiation, translation, and balancing—to navigate tensions among technology, learners, and instruction. Their understanding of AI and instructional roles evolved throughout the camp, leading to design implications for deploying conversational AI in elementary classrooms.
By Fasika Melese, Ruiyang Wu, Xinyue Cui, Joanna Perkins, Xiaoyi Tian, Tiffany Barnes, Shiyan Jiang
Discover OpenAI’s Teen Safety Blueprint—a roadmap for building AI responsibly with safeguards, age-appropriate design, and collaboration to protect and empower young people online.
Learn how OpenAI is making ChatGPT safer for teens with age-appropriate protections, learning tools, parental controls, and expert partnerships.
This paper reports on a seven‑weekend AI storytelling program for Black girls aged 10‑12 that blends Afrofuturism and Black feminist thought with AI‑enabled counter‑storytelling. Participants brainstormed AI topics, crafted characters and plots, and presented collaborative stories, developing core AI literacies such as prompt engineering, bias critique, and data‑privacy awareness. The study found that the girls produced Afrofuturist narratives grounded in their identities and everyday experiences, demonstrating the program’s effectiveness in engaging them in computer science education.
By Chun Li, Lauren Brown, Hubert Asare, Shawna Patterson, Dennis Henderson, Ericka Roland, tara Nkrumah, Angela E. B. Stewart
Explore OpenAI’s approach to balancing teen safety, freedom, and privacy in AI use.