Parents and Learners
AI Risks
What is AI?
Artificial intelligence (AI) is the use of computer systems to solve problems and make decisions. It’s already a part of everyday life – for example, AI is used to giving you personalised suggestions on social media, shopping sites or route-planning apps. If you’ve used Alexa, Siri or any other type of voice recognition system, then you’ve been using AI. Increasingly, AI expresses concepts in ways that may seem humanlike; but computers cannot think, empathise or reason.
If you’d like to read more about AI, here is an informative BBC article: What is AI? A simple guide to help you understand artificial intelligence – BBC News
Generative AI
Generative AI is in the news a great deal. This takes a written prompt and runs it through an algorithm to generate new, ‘natural’-seeming content. Tools include:
- chatbots such as ChatGPT, Google Gemini and Grammarly, which generate text;
- text-to-image programs like DALL-E and Midjourney, which create images;
- text-to-video programs, which create videos.
AI technology is developing rapidly, and these tools will only improve over time. For example, they’ll be able to create more convincing images, audio or videos.
Many AI tools are free to access, and many are extremely useful. On the other hand, AI can sometimes provide answers to questions that are dubious, unhelpful, or just plain wrong.
AI can also be used to generate inappropriate or deliberately deceptive content, called ‘deepfakes’. These can be hard to tell from real videos, images and sounds.
What are the safeguarding risks to my child?
There are several online dangers where AI might be used:
Hacking and scams
Text-generation tools can write convincing emails and text messages to trick children into giving people access to their social media or bank accounts.
Fake news and misinformation
Text-to-image tools can be used to create convincing fake photos of world events, which could be used to promote certain beliefs (including hateful ones).
AI-generated child sexual abuse images
Some text-to-image tools or image-altering apps (often called ‘nudifying’ apps) could be used to create sexually explicit pictures of children – this might be for sexual gratification or as a means of bullying.
AI chatbot relationships
Some AI tools allow children to chat and build a relationship with a fake person. These relationships can become very intense, and the AI may make unhelpful, dangerous or inappropriate suggestions.
‘Deepfake’ pornography
Putting a real person’s face into pornographic videos for sexual gratification or to humiliate the person being put in the images. AI technology is used to alter the person’s facial expressions to make the video look more convincing.
‘Catfishing’ and ‘sextortion’
Criminals can use AI-generated profile pictures to appear younger than they are to befriend and groom children and young people, and ask for information and/or images from them (e.g. nude or semi-nude photos). They can use these to extort the child or young person into giving them money.
Signs to look out for
If your child is facing a safeguarding issue online, they might:
- spend more time online, or more time offline;
- be up late online, or complain of being tired because they were online all night;
- receive a lot of messages and notifications on their phone;
- have stronger emotional responses or outbursts when they are online – they may get unusually angry, upset or distant after checking their phone or using their computer/tablet/mobile;
- be secretive about their online activity – they may refuse to show you their phone or device, or refuse to share with you what they are looking at online.
What can we do at home?
We talk about the risks of AI at Red Balloon of the Air in our Online Safety and PSHE sessions, as well as in other sessions too. This is always more effective, however, if the conversations happen at home as well. Discussing potential online risk, and how to avoid it, in an open and non-judgemental way is the best way to support your child’s safety.
You can keep your child safe by:
- talking about AI – you can talk about what elements are fun, how it’s useful and where it can be more dangerous;
- being aware of what they’re doing online – internet settings and most social media apps have ways for parents/carers to limit and/or monitor their child’s activity;
- listening to them – if they tell you about something that is worrying them, and by not blaming them for any online mistakes they have made.
Please visit our Online Safety website page for further advice and additional resources to help keep your child safe in the online world Online Safety – Red Balloon of the Air and you can contact our Safeguarding team at safeguarding@rbair.org.uk.
More resources
Bot or Not? Speech Edition (v2), Lancaster University
Deepfake technology: What is it, how does it work, and what can it be used for? – BBC Newsround