How do parents prepare tweens for AI?

A Pew Research Center report found that 64% of U.S. teens say they use AI chatbots. About 3 in 10 teens use them every day.

For many parents, this may feel sudden. One moment AI seemed like a tool for adults. Now it is part of homework, search, entertainment, apps, and everyday teenage life.

But the answer is not panic. It is preparation.

The best time to help children understand AI is before they use it independently. By the teenage years, many children are already using AI without direct supervision. They may be using it for schoolwork, answers, images, jokes, advice, or even companionship.

That means the foundations need to come earlier.

Children need to learn that AI can be useful, but it is not always right. They need to understand that AI can sound confident and still make mistakes. They need to know what not to share, when to ask an adult, and how to use AI without letting it do all the thinking for them.

This is why AI literacy should start in the primary years.

At AI Literacy School, our Learning Pathway helps parents support strong habits around thinking, effort, honesty, and curiosity as AI becomes part of schoolwork and learning. Our AI Safety Pathway helps parents understand risks, set simple boundaries, and guide safer AI use at home. Both are designed for parents of younger children, with no technical background needed.

The goal is not to make children afraid of AI. It is to help them use it wisely.

How teens are using AI chatbots

The Pew report also shows what teens are using AI chatbots for. The results give parents a useful window into what may be coming next for younger children and where you can prepare them.

Under 13s should not use AI chatbots unsupervised, but you can help prepare them by involving them in your use of AI. For example, you might use AI to support them with homework. Show them how you prompt, what you do with the responses, and then talk about how you would describe what you did to a teacher.

Here is what each category can mean in real family life, including how you need to prepare tweens for them.

1. Searching for information

Pew found that 57% of teens who use AI chatbots have used them to search for information.

This might mean asking:

• “What caused the Great Fire of London?”
• “What does this science word mean?”
• “What are some facts about climate change?”
• “What is the best way to revise for a test?”

This can be useful, but children need to know that AI is not the same as a trusted source. It can give wrong answers, miss important details, or make things sound more certain than they are.

A simple family rule could be:

Use AI to get started, but check important facts somewhere else.

2. Getting help with schoolwork

54% of teens who use AI chatbots have used them to get help with schoolwork.

This could include asking AI to explain maths, plan an essay, check grammar, suggest ideas, or help revise.

Used well, AI can support learning. It can explain something in a different way or help a child get unstuck.

But there is a clear risk: AI can become a shortcut.

If a child asks AI for the answer and copies it, they may finish the work but miss the learning. Over time, this can weaken confidence and independent thinking.

A helpful question for parents is:

Did AI help my child think, or did it do the thinking for them?

3. Fun and entertainment

47% of teens who use AI chatbots have used them for fun or entertainment.

This might include asking AI to tell jokes, create stories, invent games, role-play as a character, make quizzes, or suggest things to watch.

It can also include AI companions.

AI companions are chatbots designed to feel like friends, characters, mentors, or people who are always there to talk. Some teens may use them for role-play, comfort, advice, or emotional support.

This is an area where parents need to stay especially aware. AI companions can feel very personal. They may agree too much, encourage long chats, collect personal information, or make a child feel emotionally attached to something that is not a real person.

AI Literacy School has a parent guide on this topic here: AI Companions and Kids: A Parent’s Guide to Safety, Risks, and Age Limits.

A simple message for children is:

AI can be fun to chat with, but it is not a real friend and it should not replace real people.

4. Summarising an article, book, or video

42% of teens who use AI chatbots have used them to summarise an article, book, or video.

This might mean asking AI to explain a long article, summarise a chapter, or pick out key points from a video.

This can save time, but it can also become a problem if children stop reading, watching, and thinking for themselves.

Parents can guide this by saying:

Read or watch first. Then use AI to check what you understood.

This keeps the child’s own thinking at the centre.

5. Creating or editing images or videos

38% of teens who use AI chatbots have used them to create or edit images or videos.

This might include making pictures, editing selfies, creating memes, designing posters, or making short videos.

This can be creative and fun. But it also raises questions about truth, permission, and kindness.

Children need to learn that AI images can mislead people. They also need to understand that it is not okay to create embarrassing, fake, private, or harmful images of someone else.

A simple rule could be:

Do not use AI to make or change an image of another person in a way that would upset, trick, or embarrass them.

6. Getting news

19% of teens who use AI chatbots have used them to get news.

This might mean asking, “What happened today?” or “Explain this news story.”

The risk is that AI may leave out context, get facts wrong, or present a one-sided answer. For children and teens, news can already be hard to understand. AI can make it feel easier, but not always more accurate.

Parents can say:

For news, use trusted sources. AI can explain, but it should not be your only source.

7. Casual conversation

16% of teens who use AI chatbots have used them for casual conversation.

This may sound harmless. A teen might chat with AI because they are bored, curious, lonely, or just want a quick response.

The concern is not one short chat. The concern is when AI becomes the place a child turns to again and again instead of talking to real people.

AI companions should not be used by tweens, but they may still be curious and ask about them

Try asking:

• “What do you want to chat to AI about?”
• “How different would it be compared to talking to a person?”
• “Who would you talk to if something was really worrying you?”

8. Getting emotional support or advice

12% of teens who use AI chatbots have used them to get emotional support or advice.

This is one of the most important areas for parents to understand.

A teen might ask AI what to do about a friendship problem, anxiety, loneliness, body image, bullying, or family stress. AI may respond in a caring tone, but it is not a parent, teacher, doctor, counsellor, or trusted adult.

Children need to know:

AI can offer words, but it cannot care for you. For big feelings or serious worries, talk to a real person.

The parent takeaway

AI is already part of teenage life. The question is not whether your tweens will meet it. They will.

The real question is whether they will meet it with guidance.

For younger children, this is the moment to build the basics:

• AI can help, but it can be wrong.
• AI can give ideas, but your thinking matters.
• AI can be fun, but it is not a real friend.
• AI can answer questions, but some things need a trusted adult.
• AI should never be given private information.
• AI should be used with honesty (be prepared to explain how you used AI).
• AI should be used with kindness (don't use it to upset or embarrass others).
• AI should be used with care (don't trust it without thinking).

You do not need to know every AI tool or become an AI expert.

You just need to start early, keep the conversation open, and give children simple rules they can remember.

That is what real AI literacy looks like: not fear, not blind trust, but calm, steady guidance before your children are old enough to face these choices alone.

The AI Literacy School Guides and Learning Pathways are here to help you understand AI and its impacts better so you can be an effective guide for your tweens.