Working to improve the social, emotional, mental health and wellbeing of children and young people in Cornwall
For professionals

Education

  • If you want to check on whether an education-based activity is suitable for this age group
  • If you’re worried about information children and young people might seek online
  • If you’re concerned about children and young people accessing the dark web

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Having strategies to identify AI content

0-5 years 6-8 years 9-12 years 13-15 years 16-18 years
Not Harmful Not Harmful Not Harmful Not Harmful Not Harmful

 

Additional context: AI content is getting harder to recognise, but there are strategies to recognise it. This might include looking for flaws (such as too many fingers or teeth), looking for ‘created by AI’ flags, or googling whether it has previously been exposed as AI.

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Using AI to do schoolwork without permission

0-5 years 6-8 years 9-12 years 13-15 years 16-18 years
Potentially Harmful Potentially Harmful Potentially Harmful Potentially Harmful Potentially Harmful

 

Additional context: Using AI without express permission isn’t necessarily a problem, but if young people are using it when they have specifically been told not to this is a problem. Increasingly education providers are scanning student’s work for signs it was written using AI

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Using AI as directed by a teacher

0-5 years 6-8 years 9-12 years 13-15 years 16-18 years
Not Harmful Not Harmful Not Harmful Not Harmful Not Harmful

 

Additional context: Schools are starting to embed AI into teaching, both to teach young people how to use it appropriately and to help them recognise the flaws.

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Relying on AI for information

0-5 years 6-8 years 9-12 years 13-15 years 16-18 years
Potentially Harmful Potentially Harmful Potentially Harmful Potentially Harmful Potentially Harmful

 

Additional context: Information provided by AI is not a perfect reflection of the real world. If you ask it to explain the meaning of a saying you make up, it will give you a response, where a human would likely recognise it’s not a real saying. Therefore, we need to avoid relying too heavily on information provided by AI and we should double check anything important.

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Using AI to find out about personal issues

0-5 years 6-8 years 9-12 years 13-15 years 16-18 years
Harmful Harmful Potentially Harmful Potentially Harmful Potentially Harmful

 

Additional context: Whilst AI developers put in ‘guardrails,’ directing users to support services if they ask for advice on certain sensitive topics, there have been cases where, during long conversations, the AI may start to encourage the user to engage in unhealthy behaviour. Professionals and parents should ensure young people have a safe space where they can talk to a real person about issues and discuss the pitfalls of relying on AI.

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Uploading personal images or voice data into AI tools without understanding how data will be used

0-5 years 6-8 years 9-12 years 13-15 years 16-18 years
Not Applicable Potentially Harmful Potentially Harmful Potentially Harmful Potentially Harmful

 

Additional context: Any content uploaded into an AI platform (such as Chat GPT) is used as training data. Uploading content gives companies permission to train their systems using that content, and this could mean that content is replicated with no acknowledgement of who created it.

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Learning how devices work

0-5 years 6-8 years 9-12 years 13-15 years 16-18 years
Not Harmful Not Harmful Not Harmful Not Harmful Not Harmful

 

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Learning how to write software

0-5 years 6-8 years 9-12 years 13-15 years 16-18 years
Not Applicable Not Harmful Not Harmful Not Harmful Not Harmful

 

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Supervised or unsupervised online schoolwork / homework

Accessing pro-self-harm or pro-ana (pro-anorexia) sites

0-5 years 6-8 years 9-12 years 13-15 years 16-18 years
Harmful Harmful Harmful Harmful Harmful

 

Additional context: Pro-self-harm and pro-ana sites may include blogs, social media profiles or threads within forums.

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Using unreliable sites to find out about personal issues

Using reliable sources for find out about personal issues (Brook, Talk to Frank, NHS websites)

0-5 years 6-8 years 9-12 years 13-15 years 16-18 years
Not applicable Potentially Harmful Not Harmful Not Harmful Not Harmful

 

Additional context: Adults often worry about young people finding out about sex or drugs from the digital world. To prevent the spread of misinformation and disinformation it’s important to ensure young people know where to access reliable information, even if we may be worried about young people accessing this information.

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Searching for information about losing weight

0-5 years 6-8 years 9-12 years 13-15 years 16-18 years
Harmful Harmful Harmful Potentially Harmful Potentially Harmful

 

Additional context: if a young person wants to lose weight, it’s important to understand their reasons and tackle underlying problems such as bullying or low self-esteem, whilst promoting healthy eating and exercise.

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Researching issues in an unsupported way eg self-harm, depression, eating disorders

Guided research / learning

0-5 years 6-8 years 9-12 years 13-15 years 16-18 years
Not Harmful Not Harmful Not Harmful Not Harmful Not Harmful

 

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Writing a blog

0-5 years 6-8 years 9-12 years 13-15 years 16-18 years
Not Applicable Potentially Harmful Potentially Harmful Potentially Harmful Not Harmful

 

Additional context: Having a blog has the same risks as having a social media profile. It’s important to be aware of how much and with whom personal information is being shared. A blog that is kept for family and friends to keep up with sporting achievements is low risk. A blog which charts more personal activities and is accessible to anyone online is high risk.

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Accessing ‘deep web’ sites using browsers such as TOR to explore what is there

0-5 years 6-8 years 9-12 years 13-15 years 16-18 years
Not applicable Not applicable Potentially Harmful Potentially Harmful Potentially Harmful

 

Additional context: Accessing the deep web is not illegal and the most visited site is Facebook. Young people who are concerned with institutional or parental monitoring may be more likely to access the deep web. If you find out a young person is using the deep web, it’s important to talk about the risks and where they can get support.

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Learning about online issues and discussing their opinions

0-5 years 6-8 years 9-12 years 13-15 years 16-18 years
Not Harmful Not Harmful Not Harmful Not Harmful Not Harmful

 

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