- Google will roll a version of Gemini AI for children under 13
- The app includes parental control and security features via family connection
- Google Pitcher Gemini for parents as a way for kids to learn, be creative and get help with homework
Google is eager to expand the use of its Gemini AI assistant and creates a version of the Gemini app for children, including parental control of content. The company sent an E email to parents about its plans for a gemini designed for children under 13, first discovered by 9to5Google.
Google’s E -Mail cites comments that encourage controlled access to AI from parents, teachers and experts on children as the reason for the new app. The child-friendly AI assistant will reportedly help children with homework, answer available questions and help them with creative writing. Parents will be able to set Gemini as the child’s standard assistant on Android devices.
As Google is often quick to point out, Gemini can of course make mistakes. Any child who uses Gemini has to check with their parents about any facts (and honestly, adults must confirm all that Gemini also tells them). So if Gemini tells your child that Abe Lincoln invented peanut butter, hopefully they will ask you before turning into their essay about how the Gettysburg address was so short because Lincoln had a mouthful of peanut butter and nothing to wash it down.
The idea is that if AI tools want to shape the future of learning, children should be introduced to them under controlled circumstances. These digital training wheels help children learn to use AI safely before the parents’ boundaries are removed when older.
Gemini for Children APPs come with many additional security and parental control features, driven by Google’s family connection, providing tools to parents to limit their children’s activities online. Parents will be able to monitor their child’s Gemini activity and be warned if their child starts using it for less end-ride purposes and asking questions like “Can you do my science fair project?” Or “How can I start betting on football matches?”
Schools will also have protection in place. If the children have access to Gemini through school-issued accounts, administrators can set use policies and oversee interactions using the Google Admon Console.
Gemini children
This is arguably much more than just another mark in Google’s plans for Gemini. It marks a real push from Google to normalize AI for the whole family, specifically Gemini. Google plant a flag with the app. If Gemini is a child’s first AI app, the one they grow up with, they are more likely to rely on it and continue to use it in their adult lives as well.
There are serious questions about inserting AI into children. It is critical to ensure that Gemini does not mislead children or mess with their critical thinking development. And Gemini is not where the kids should find answers to their deepest emotional questions, but it’s hard to imagine a child who doesn’t at least try to ask Gemini about drama with their friends.
To dampen some of these concerns, Google told parents that there will be no ads or data harvested from the children’s version of Gemini. Instead, the focus will be on learning and creative expression. That it can conveniently train a generation to be comfortable with using Google’s AI tools is not brought up by the business, but it feels very much like a very detailed and high-tech version of a college that gives the brand throws to other classes to make them think about applying for a decade every time they reach a pen.
