When a child's confidant is a chatbot: talking about AI friends

Alastair Greener FPSA Generational communication expert, author and President of the PSA UK and Ireland 2026 Published 4 October 2026 · 7 min read

56% of children aged 8 to 17 in the UK say they have used AI, and one in ten of those users (11%) say they have used it as someone to talk to or "as a friend", according to Ofcom's report of 21 May 2026, which links this mainly to seeking personal advice. In June 2026 the government said romantic companion chatbots would have to enforce a minimum age of 18. Curiosity is a better way into the conversation than alarm.

More than half of UK children have used AI, and some use it for more than homework. Ofcom's Children and Parents: Media Use and Attitudes report, published on 21 May 2026, found that 56% of children aged 8 to 17 say they have used AI, and that one in ten of those users (11%) say they have used it "as someone to talk to or 'as a friend'". Ofcom's research suggests this is mainly about seeking personal advice.

For parents and grandparents who have never asked a chatbot anything personal, that can sound alarming. It is better treated as a reason to ask questions.

How many children use AI, and what for?

Use rises with age, from just over a third (35%) of 8 to 9 year olds to two-thirds (66%) of 16 and 17 year olds, according to Ofcom. Most of it is practical. Among children who use AI, 51% use it for schoolwork or homework, up from 34% in 2023 and 45% in 2024, and 43% use it for learning more generally. 43% say they use it simply for fun, and 20% to help them make images or songs.

What children who use AI use it forShare of AI users aged 8 to 17 who use it for each purpose

Schoolwork or homework51%
Learning more generally43%
Simply for fun43%
Help making images or songs20%

Source: Ofcom, published 21 May 2026

AI is part of the background of young people's lives. In research by Savanta for the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), published on 15 July 2026, AI came up more than social media at some of the youth events. Young people described using it for homework, revision and "answering questions they feel embarrassed to ask in class".

Why would a child treat a chatbot as a friend?

Ofcom's answer, from its Children's Media Lives study, is that children's use of AI in this way "appears to be primarily linked to seeking personal advice". One 15-year-old in that study, Amira, described asking her Snap AI about health worries: "So I would just ask my AI if it's like anything serious." Ofcom adds that "some of the children showed awareness of the limitations of using AI in this way".

Young people in the DSIT research described the same habit. One group proposed a government-backed AI health tool drawing only on NHS-approved sources, because young people were already using AI to look up health concerns. A chatbot is there at any hour and does not look shocked, so it is easy to see why a child might ask it the question they would not ask a parent.

There are risks too. Parents and young people in the DSIT research both ranked "AI chatbots that act like a romantic partner or close friend" among the biggest AI risks, and teachers said they regularly see children engaging with AI "in ways that suggest they see it as real or human-like". Ofcom also found that 40% of teenage AI users would trust an AI-generated news article as much as, or more than, one written by a human.

What are the new rules on companion chatbots?

On 15 June 2026, alongside its decision to ban social media for under-16s, the government announced that so-called AI "romantic companion" chatbots, "designed to simulate sexual relationships or roleplay with users", will have to enforce a minimum age of 18. It added that similar intimate functions will be restricted for under-18s on AI chatbots more widely.

As of late September 2026, the government expected this package of measures to go before Parliament by Christmas 2026 and to come into force in spring 2027. The June release gave no separate timetable for the chatbot rule. As announced, the rules are about romantic and intimate features, so they would not stop a child asking a general chatbot for personal advice.

Support for age limits is strong. In the DSIT research, 85% of parents and 83% of young people aged 16 to 21 supported minimum age requirements for AI chatbots.

Do older generations use AI in the same way?

Far less. In the US, the Pew Research Center found, in a survey of 5,119 adults in February 2026, that one in five adults under 30 (20%) ever turn to chatbots for emotional support or advice, against 2% of those aged 65 and over.

In the UK, our own 2024 survey of 4,067 people found that 59% of Gen Z had used AI platforms such as ChatGPT, against 48% of Millennials, 29% of Gen X and 13% of Baby Boomers. Parents of 8 to 17 year olds are mostly Millennials and Gen X, and many grandparents are Baby Boomers, so in 2024 many of the adults around a child had never used AI at all, let alone asked it for advice.

Who had used AI platforms such as ChatGPTShare of each generation, 2024

Gen Z59%
Millennials48%
Gen X29%
Baby Boomers13%

Base: 4,067 people in the UK Source: Communication Habits and Preferences 2024

That gap is the reason to lead with curiosity. In a 2024 post asking who the AI generation really is, Alastair argued that making assumptions about generations and their use of AI is a mistake. The same goes for assumptions about what a child is doing when they talk to a chatbot.

How can parents and grandparents start the conversation?

Ask to be shown. Ask what they use AI for and which apps, and let them demonstrate. For once, let them be the expert.

Try it yourself. If you have never used a chatbot, spend ten minutes with one before you talk. George Cairns, founder of Get AI Powers, explained how to make AI useful in everyday work in our podcast episode on AI.

Ask about the personal questions, without judgement. If a child says they sometimes ask AI for advice, ask what kind. Make sure they know which people they can turn to, and point them to NHS sources for health worries.

Read "friend" as a need. One takeaway from our August 2026 podcast episode with Emily Haslam-Jones, a specialist in co-regulation, is that "attention-seeking" is better understood as "connection-seeking". A child who talks to a chatbot as a friend may be telling you something about the connection they want from the people around them.

Explain what it is. A chatbot can be helpful and still be wrong, and it does not know your child the way a friend does.

Agree the ground rules together: which apps, which features, and what to do if a conversation becomes uncomfortable. Young people in the DSIT research asked for mandatory labelling of AI-generated content and for AI literacy to be part of the school curriculum, so many are already thinking about the risks. Our guide to Generation Alpha sets out how the youngest generation communicates.

Frequently asked questions

How many children in the UK use AI?

56% of children aged 8 to 17 say they have used AI, according to Ofcom's Children and Parents: Media Use and Attitudes report, published on 21 May 2026. Use rises with age, from 35% of 8 to 9 year olds to 66% of 16 and 17 year olds. Half of child AI users (51%) use it for schoolwork or homework.

Do children use AI chatbots as friends?

Some do. Ofcom found that one in ten AI users aged 8 to 17 (11%) say they have used AI as someone to talk to or as a friend, and its Children's Media Lives study links this mainly to seeking personal advice. In government research published in July 2026, parents and young people both ranked chatbots that act like a romantic partner or close friend among the biggest AI risks.

Is there an age limit for AI companion chatbots in the UK?

The government announced on 15 June 2026 that AI romantic companion chatbots will have to enforce a minimum age of 18, and that similar intimate features will be restricted for under-18s on AI chatbots more widely. The release expected its package of measures to come into force in spring 2027 but gave no separate timetable for the chatbot rule.

How should parents talk to children about AI friends?

Start with curiosity. Ask what they use AI for and to be shown how, ask what kind of advice they look for, and make sure they know which people and trusted sources, such as the NHS for health, they can turn to. Explain that a chatbot can be wrong, and agree ground rules together.

For more on talking across the generations at home and at work, read Alastair's book, Generationally Speaking.

About the book