CHILDRENS'S A.I. COMPANIONS : TERRIFYING GLOBAL PRECIS

'Children/students are particularly vulnerable.' : Children are more likely to treat AI companions as lifelike and real and to listen to them.

In an incident from 2021, when a 10-year-old girl asked for a challenge to do, Amazon's Alexa [ not a chatbot, but an interactive AI ] told her to touch an electrical plug with a coin.

Research suggests children trust AI, particularly when the bots are programmed to seem friendly or interesting.

One study showed children will reveal more information about their mental health to an AI than a human.

Inappropriate sexual conduct from AI chatbots and exposure to minors appears increasingly common.

One Character.AI, users who reveal they're underage can role-play with chatbots that will engage in grooming behaviour.

While Ani on Grok reportedly has an age-verification prompt for sexually explicit chat, the app itself is rated for users aged 12+.

Meta AI chatbots have engaged in ''sensual'' conversations with kids, according to the company's internal documents.

The World Students Society thanks Daniel You, Micah Boerma and Yuen Siew Koo.