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Title: Google Plans To Roll Out Its AI Chatbot To Children Under 13

Link: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/05/03/0136...

An anonymous reader quotes a report from the New York Times: Google plans to
roll out its Gemini artificial intelligence chatbot next week for children
under 13 (source paywalled; alternative source) who have parent-managed
Google accounts, as tech companies vie to attract young users with A.I.
products. "Gemini Apps will soon be available for your child," the company
said in an email this week to the parent of an 8-year-old. "That means your
child will be able to use Gemini" to ask questions, get homework help and
make up stories. The chatbot will be available to children whose parents
useFamily Link, a Google service that enables families to set up Gmail and
opt into services like YouTube for their child. To sign up for a child
account, parents provide the tech company with personal data like their
child's name and birth date. Gemini has specific guardrails for younger users
to hinder the chatbot from producing certain unsafe content, said Karl Ryan,
a Google spokesman. When a child with a Family Link account uses Gemini, he
added, the company will not use that data to train its A.I. Introducing
Gemini for children could accelerate the use of chatbots among a vulnerable
population as schools, colleges, companies and others grapple with the
effects of popular generative A.I. technologies. Trained on huge amounts of
data, these systems can produce humanlike text and realistic-looking images
and videos. [...] Google acknowledged some risks in its email to families
this week, alerting parents that "Gemini can make mistakes" and suggesting
they "help your child think critically" about the chatbot. The email also
recommended parents teach their child how to fact-check Gemini's answers. And
the company suggested parents remind their child that "Gemini isn't human"
and "not to enter sensitive or personal info in Gemini." Despite the
company's efforts to filter inappropriate material, the email added, children
"may encounter content you don't want them to see."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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