Activating parental controls can help keep children safe when using AI tools like ChatGPT. Credit : WINEXA, Shutterstock
Whether we noticed it happening or not, artificial intelligence has settled into daily life. Since 2022, tools like ChatGPT have become the quiet assistant many of us rely on - helping with homework, drafting messages, planning trips or simply answering questions we don't have the patience to Google.
And children, of course, have learned this even faster than adults.
For students, AI has become the new calculator: something quick, easy and always available. But that convenience is exactly where the concerns begin.
Speaking on Spanish radio programme La Tarde, technology expert and CEO of Pentaquar Consulting, Estela Luna de María, explained why parents should not treat AI tools as harmless - and why using them without supervision can create problems.
"With children and teenagers, parental control isn't just possible - it's necessary," she says.
According to Luna de María, there are situations where ChatGPT may produce responses that are inappropriate, unsettling or simply not suitable for younger users. The issue isn't malice - it's the nature of a system designed to respond to any question, without always knowing who is asking.
She explains that minors may also upload personal images or share private information without realising how quickly that can spread online.
There is another factor rarely discussed: emotional dependence.
Last year alone, ChatGPT registered around one million queries related to suicide. For young people, especially those struggling with anxiety or identity issues, the temptation to treat AI as a 'friend' or 'confidant' is real.
"ChatGPT is not a psychologist," Luna de María stresses. "It makes mistakes. It can give advice that is inappropriate or simply wrong."
While tools like ChatGPT, Gemini or Microsoft Copilot do not have automatic parental filters activated, they do offer parental control options. But these must be set up manually.
The process works through a family account, where the child's profile is linked to a parent or guardian:
Once activated, the platform applies what Luna de María calls a 'soft censorship'- meaning explicit or unsafe content is filtered by default.
This is especially relevant at a time when ChatGPT is expected to allow erotic conversational features for adults - something that makes strong parental filtering even more crucial.
The expert's answer is immediate: no.
Attempting to prohibit it, she says, almost guarantees children will use it anyway -- just without guidance.
Instead, she suggests a more realistic approach:
"It's about teaching them to think for themselves," she says. "To ask questions. To understand the limits."
Luna de María believes that sooner or later, access to AI tools will require age verification, similar to websites with adult content. Not to block minors entirely - but to create different versions of the technology depending on age.
In her view, AI can be extremely useful - but only if adults are present to guide how young people use it.
The message is simple: AI can help - but children should never be left alone with it.