Google is planning to roll out its Gemini Artificial Intelligence-Chatbot next week for children under the age of 13 who have parents managed by parents, because technology companies are fighting to attract young users with AI products.
“Gemini apps will be available for your child soon,” the company said this week in an e-mail to the parent of an 8-year-old. “That means that your child can use Gemini” to ask questions, get help with homework and to come up with stories.
The chatbot will be available for children whose parents use Family Link, a Google service with which families can set up Gmail and sign up for services such as YouTube for their child. To register for a children's account, parents offer the technology company personal information such as the name and date of birth of their child.
Gemini has specific guardrails for younger users to hinder the chatbot to produce certain unsafe content, said Karl Ryan, a Google spokesperson. When a child with a Familyink account uses Gemini, he added, the company will not use that data to train his AI
The introduction of Gemini for children can accelerate the use of chatbots in a vulnerable population such as schools, colleges, companies and others struggling with the effects of popular generative AI technologies. Train on huge amounts of data, these systems can produce human text and realistic -looking images and videos.
Google and other AI Chatbot developers are locked up in a bright competition to conquer young users. President Trump recently urged schools to take over the teaching and learning tools. Millions of teenagers already use chatbots as study aids, writing coaches and virtual companions. Children's groups warn that the chatbots can pose serious risks to the safety of children. The bots sometimes come up with things.
UNICEF, the children's agency of the United Nation and other children's groups have noticed that the AI systems can confuse, misunderstand and manipulate young children who may have difficulty understanding that the chatbots are not human.
“Generative AI has produced dangerous content,” said Unicef's worldwide research agency in a position on AI risks and opportunities for children.
Google recognized a few risks this week in his e -mail to families and warned parents that “Gemini can make mistakes” and suggests that they “help your child to think critically” about the chatbot.
The e-mail also advised parents to teach their child how to control Gemini's answers. And the company stated that parents remind their child that “Gemini is not human” and “not to enter sensitive or personal info in twins.”
Despite the efforts of the company to filter inappropriate material, the e -mail added, children “may encounter content that you don't want to see.”
Over the years, Tech giants have developed various products, functions and guarantees for teenagers and children. In 2015, Google YouTube kids, an independent video app for children who is popular with families with toddlers.
Other efforts to attract children online have led to the concerns of government officials and proponents of children. In 2021, Meta stopped plans to introduce an Instagram Kids Service – a version of its Instagram – app intended for those under the age of 13 – after the attorney general of a few dozen states sent a letter to the company that the company had not sent the company to protect the well -being of children on its platforms. “
Some prominent technology companies, including Google, Amazon and Microsoft Hebben, also pay fines of millions of dollars to arrange government complaints that they have violated the online privacy protection law for children. This federal law requires that online services are aimed at children to obtain permission from a parent before they collect personal information, such as a home address or a selfie, from a child under the age of 13.
Under the Gemini outing, children with Google Google accounts would initially be able to access the chatbot themselves in the first instance. But the company said it would warn parents and that parents could then manage their child's chatbot institutions, “including access.”
“Your child will soon have access to Gemini apps,” said the company's e -mail to parents. “We also let you know when your child has access to Gemini for the first time.”
Mr. Ryan, the spokesperson for Google, said that the approach of providing Gemini for young users has complied with the online privacy legislation of the federal children.
