60% of children worried about AI being used to make inappropriate images

Three in five young people say they are worried about artificial intelligence (AI) being used to make inappropriate pictures of them, a survey has found, as more and more teenagers report they are using AI.

More than one in 10 (12%) teenagers aged 13 to 17 said they have already seen people their age using AI to create sexual pictures and videos of other people, according to a survey by the UK Safer Internet Centre and Nominet to mark Safer Internet Day.

It comes after the UK’s data regulator opened a formal probe into X and xAI over their compliance with UK law after the chatbot Grok was used to generate sexual deepfake images without consent.

Nearly two thirds (65%) of 2,000 parents said they were concerned about AI being used to make inappropriate pictures of their children, while 60% of eight to 17-year-olds said they were concerned about someone using AI to make inappropriate pictures of them.

Despite concerns, nearly all (97%) of 2,000 young people between eight and 17 surveyed said they are using AI, and more than half (58%) believed it makes their lives better.

More than two in five (41%) young people said AI can provide emotional support, while more than a third (34%) said explicitly it can help with mental health and feelings.

A third of parents (33%) are worried about the impact of AI on their child’s cognitive and learning development, while a similar amount (35%) of young people said AI has made them personally less creative.

Parents underestimated how often children said they were using AI to help with their homework (31% vs 54%), and half (50%) of young people said they have seen others their age using AI to do their home or schoolwork for them.

Unprecedented rate

National Education Union (NEU) general secretary Daniel Kebede said the findings show the extraordinary scale of AI use among young people.

While the curriculum review recognised the need for AI to appear more on the curriculum, teachers, students and parents cannot afford to wait 18 months for changes, he added.

Mr Kebede said: “Young people are already using AI at an unprecedented rate, including for their homework and studying.

“Yet the evidence is clear that the risks of AI use in education, particularly for young people’s learning and development, overshadow the benefits.

“Equally concerning is the number of young people who are relying on AI for emotional support, and those worried about AI being used to create inappropriate images of them.

“These findings must serve as a clarion call for Government to act urgently to ensure that children have the information, support and resources they need to make informed, safe and ethical decisions about AI.”

Paul Whiteman, general secretary of NAHT school leaders’ union, said union members voted last year for the creation and distribution of non-consensual deepfakes to be criminalised, and welcomed the Government recently making this move.

“School leaders are concerned about this type of technology and its use against both children and school staff,” he said.

While the movement against social media for children and phones in schools has been gathering momentum, the Government has championed the benefits of AI learning tools for schools.

The Department for Education has announced that more than 1,000 schools and colleges will be recruited to try out new technologies to aid learning, and AI tutoring is set to be available for disadvantaged students in all schools by the end of 2027.

Real concerns

Mr Kebede told MPs last year he had “real concerns” about the potential long-term impact of AI and cognitive decline in children.

However, schools watchdog Ofsted has found teachers are largely positive about the potential of AI to cut workload and support teaching.

Ofcom launched an investigation into X and its chatbot several weeks ago, and X has since said it has brought in measures to address the issues raised.

Technology secretary Liz Kendall said: “This research shows that young people are embracing AI in remarkable ways; using it to learn and save time. This is exactly how we want technology to support people of all ages. But its true benefits won’t be realised until AI is both safe and accessible to everyone.

“We are investing in safe AI tutors for disadvantaged children and upskilling millions of people across the country, while launching a national conversation on how we build a safer, fairer and more empowering digital future for every child.

“We are also clear that no-one should be victim to AI being weaponised to create abhorrent explicit content without their consent. That’s why we brought forward a new criminal offence to ban it.”