AI Is Talking to Your Kids. Can You Trust It?
Three AI developments parents need to know this week — and what to do about them
AI is becoming part of children’s everyday lives. They use it for homework, advice, entertainment and increasingly, companionship.
Still Getting Spam After Opting Out?
South Africa’s new opt-out system could finally change that.
For years, South Africans have clicked unsubscribe, replied STOP and registered on opt-out lists.
And the spam kept coming.
The problem wasn’t that we had no rules. We had the Consumer Protection Act and POPIA. The problem was weak enforcement and no properly functioning national opt-out system.
That is starting to change.
Before you post, ask five questions
1. Would my child be comfortable seeing this at 16?
2. Does it reveal where they live, learn or spend time?
3. Does it reveal identifying information?
4. Could this photograph be misused, copied or manipulated?
5. Does this really need to be public?
If you’re uncomfortable with any of the answers, don’t post it.
AI companions, deepfakes and increasingly powerful AI tools are creating new risks for children. This week, research suggested that one in three children would rather talk to an AI companion than a real person, while child-safety experts continue to warn about companion chatbots and AI-generated explicit images. Parents do not need to understand every new technology. But we do need to understand the risks and set sensible boundaries.
AI is now shaping what your child sees, who they talk to, and how easily they can be fooled. Here is what happened this week, and the simple steps that keep your family safer.
This week’s AI news carried more than the usual headlines about tech companies and market share. Several major developments directly affect how children experience the internet, who or what they are talking to online, and the risks they face from AI-generated content. As a parent or guardian, here is what you need to understand.
We created a profile of an 11 year old girl on a social media app. Within 5 minutes, we had received images of male genatalia. Cyberflashing is a growing threat to young children.
Has POPIA served to deter companies from using our children’s personal data or are they still receiving unsolicited messages?
Ads appear in search results, social media feeds, free mobile apps, games, and even reputable news websites. Yet behind this familiar landscape lies a growing cyber threat that parents and families need to understand, malvertising.
Are you traveling to a country that speaks a different language? Don’t worry, Google Translate and Google Lens have you covered.
