Kids and AI
How families can treat AI chatbots and image tools on a first phone: what they are for, what stays private, and when to wait.
AI is a new app category, not a babysitter
Chatbots and image tools can help with homework questions, brainstorming, and curiosity. They can also invent facts, ask for personal details, or produce images a child did not expect. Treat them like a browser: useful with a plan, not a stand-in for a parent, teacher, or friend.
Decide if they belong on the first phone
A Starter iPhone can wait on AI apps the same way it waits on social apps. If you allow one later, name it in the agreement. “You may use this school-approved tool for homework” is clearer than discovering a chatbot inside another app on a Friday night.
What not to type
Full names of classmates, home addresses, passwords, photos of other people, and medical details do not belong in a prompt. Remind your child that a helpful tone from a bot is still a product, not a confidant. If a tool asks to keep a memory of the family, that is a parent decision.
Homework and honesty
If school allows AI for outlining or practice, say so. If an assignment must be the child’s own sentences, say that too. The family rule can be simple: AI may help you think; it may not replace you. FirstPhone does not grade schoolwork. It can hold that expectation next to the rest of the phone plan.
Review it like any other privilege
At the 30- or 90-day review, ask whether AI tools were useful, confusing, or easy to overuse. Add, narrow, or wait. FirstPhone will not enable an app for you. You change the plan, then you change the iPhone.