Educators and specialists have warned against allowing children to use the ChatGPT application or download it onto their smart devices without direct parental supervision, following a growing number of cases in which children gained access to the app by registering false ages, bypassing the age restrictions in place. This opens the door to their exposure to content or responses that are not appropriate for their age or psychological stage of development.
They told Al Bayan that a number of children have begun circumventing registration systems, while the platform requires parental oversight and consent for users between the ages of 13 and 18, and its usage policies state that those under 13 are not permitted to use the service.
Families have recently observed children — among them a 7-year-old — entering a date of birth different from their real age in order to download and use the app, raising concerns about the nature of the questions they may ask and the answers they may receive.
Educator Heba Al Sharbini said that a child at this age may be a quick learner from a technical standpoint and may handle mobile phones and tablets with a proficiency that sometimes exceeds family expectations, but this does not mean the child possesses sufficient intellectual maturity to process everything they read or hear in response.
She added that a child at the age of 7 is still in the stage of forming basic concepts about life, society, and relationships, and that exposure to answers relating to topics beyond their years may create a state of cognitive confusion, or prompt them to question matters that are not appropriate for their developmental stage.
She stressed that some children may ask questions relating to fear, relationships, or even psychological subjects, and receive answers that appear logical but are beyond their capacity to understand — something that may be reflected in their daily behaviour and the way they speak at home.
She added that the danger lies in the fact that the child treats the answer as an absolute truth, without the ability to discern or think critically, which may influence the formation of their intellectual character at an early age.
For his part, educator Abdelrazzak Haj Mawas said that early reliance on artificial intelligence applications could directly weaken a child's skills in thinking, analysis, and deduction, particularly if it becomes the primary source for obtaining answers.
He added that children at this stage need to develop personal research skills, experimentation, and trial and error, as these are the processes that build intellectual independence.
He noted that some families have begun to observe their children using the app to complete school assignments and produce ready-made answers, which negatively affects their levels of writing, self-expression, and self-reliance. He stressed that the continuation of this pattern could produce a generation that depends on quick solutions and gradually moves away from critical thinking and independent research skills.
Psychologist Sinmis Naji said the psychological dimension of this issue is no less serious than the educational one, noting that some children have begun turning to the app to raise personal questions or to express their daily concerns and problems.
She added that this behaviour risks turning the app into something resembling a "digital friend," which threatens natural communication between the child and their family and reduces the space for direct dialogue within the home.
She explained that when a child grows accustomed to turning to a screen instead of a parent or teacher, they may gradually lose social communication skills and become more inclined towards isolation and withdrawal. She stressed that this effect is clearly visible in children who spend long hours in front of smart devices, reflected in their social relationships and behaviour at school.
Educator Yasmine Zahra affirmed that the rapid pace of digital development places greater responsibility on families to monitor their children's use of smart applications, adding that some children have become faster than their parents in understanding new technologies and the ways to access them — something that requires continuous monitoring of personal devices and the applications installed on them.
She added that prohibition alone is not enough; it must be accompanied by family dialogue and clear digital awareness so that the child understands the reasons behind the restriction.
Parent "Umm Khalid" said she was surprised to find that her 7-year-old son had managed to download the app on the household tablet after registering an age older than his real one.
She added that within a matter of days she noticed a clear change in the way he spoke and his reliance on the app to answer everything he was asked, whether related to school assignments or everyday questions.
She confirmed that she was taken aback by questions he raised that were not appropriate for his age, which prompted her to delete the app and ban him from using it entirely, out of concern for his intellectual and psychological wellbeing.