Google plans to open access to the Gemini chatbot to children under the age of 13, as long as their accounts are created and managed by their parents through the Family Link platform. About this informs The New York Times, citing emails that have started coming to users.
Google says kids will be able to use Gemini for educational purposes, homework and creating their own stories. At the same time, the company emphasizes that artificial intelligence can make mistakes, so it recommends that parents teach children critical thinking, fact-checking and not to enter personal information.
Access to Gemini will only be available through accounts created within Family Link with the child’s name and date of birth. Google emphasizes that the children’s personal data will not be used to train the models, and the chatbot itself will have special restrictions to prevent the display of unwanted content.
Despite built-in filters, Google warns that children may still be exposed to information that parents may find objectionable. When using Gemini for the first time, the family will receive a separate notification, and access to the service can be disabled through the Family Link settings.
The launch of Gemini for kids could accelerate the adoption of chatbots among vulnerable populations as schools, universities, companies and other institutions grapple with the implications of the rapid development of generative artificial intelligence technologies. Such systems, trained on large volumes of data, are capable of generating human-like text, as well as creating realistic images and videos.
