A reckoning on social media addiction came late for many kids. Will AI safety be different?

After years of recognizing the dangers of social media for children, U.S. states this summer reached an accord hailed as a turning point for child safety. In the meantime, a new generation of kids is starting to engage with even more potent technology: artificial intelligence. Despite the rush to make social media safer in the aftermath of an $18 billion settlement, it offers some lessons for those seeking to protect children using AI, a technology whose risks for young people and development are only just emerging.

Companies have started rolling out safety features introduced first by social media giants, like age assurance measures and restricted experiences for minors. However, advocates argue that the most important lesson from the social media safety efforts may be to act sooner to mitigate AI's harms for kids. "The greatest legacy from the social media experiment and learnings is that hopefully we're not going to sleepwalk into this next tech revolution," said Dr. Dana Suskind, a University of Chicago surgeon and pediatrician who authored "Human Raised."

Social media concerns have focused on the amount of time children spend on platforms like Instagram and TikTok, the impact on their mental health, and data privacy. AI poses different risks, as children can not only see AI-generated content on social media but also communicate with AI chatbots, including some on social media apps.

Many use AI for school help and have formed unhealthy attachments to these chatbots, raising questions about how access to AI affects children's brain development. Companies are pushing AI-powered toys for kids as young as 2. Both social media and AI safety for kids are being discussed on the legal and legislative fronts. While social media companies have been slower to introduce teen accounts, AI giants have been more proactive in adding safeguards, possibly due to heightened regulatory and societal scrutiny.