As internet companies compete to recruit young customers with A.I. products, Google intends to launch its Gemini artificial intelligence chatbot for kids under 13 who have parent-managed Google accounts next week.

The business informed the parent of an 8-year-old via email last week that “Gemini Apps will soon be available for your child.” “That means your child will be able to use Gemini” to tell stories, ask questions, and obtain homework help.”

Kids whose parents use Family Link, an initiative of Google that lets families set up Gmail and allow their kids to use sites like YouTube, will be able to utilize the chatbot. Parents give the tech company personal information, such as their child’s name and birthdate, in order to create a child account.

According to Google spokesman Karl Ryan, Gemini includes special safeguards for younger users to prevent the chatbot from generating some harmful content. He stressed.

“The company will not use that data to train its A.I. when a child with a Family Link account uses Gemini,”

1. Early AI Literacy Development

In the field of AI education, Google is taking the lead. They are raising a generation that will grow up knowing how to communicate with AI, which may become as essential as reading or math, by exposing Gemini to kids from a young age.

2. Developing Ethics and Norms for AI

Google can affect the ethical framework of AI-human interaction by regulating how children initially interact with AI. From the beginning, they may prioritize openness, critical thinking, and digital citizenship.

According to The Times, as the AI race intensifies, chatbot developers are vying for younger audiences. This is true even if chatbots nowadays are, at best, flawed and, at worst, potentially dangerous. Late last year, the UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization urged governments to impose age restrictions on users and privacy and data protection measures in order to control the use of generative AI in education.