Meta has recently rolled out a new feature that helps parents to keep an eye on how their teenagers use the company’s AI on apps like Facebook, Messenger, and Instagram. The goal is to help families understand online behaviour and make sure teens use AI safely. Right now, this feature is only available in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, and Brazil, but Meta plans to bring it to more countries soon. Meta first previewed this initiative in October last year, stating its goal to build tools that support parents in guiding their teens through rapidly evolving AI experiences online.
The new feature is located in the Insights tab within the supervision hub. Moreover, the groups’ teen interactions are segregated under general categories such as school, entertainment, lifestyle, travel, writing, and health and wellbeing. Each category can be expanded into subtopics. For example, lifestyle can be further subcategorised into fashion, food, and holidays, while health and wellbeing can include fitness, physical health, and mental health. This setup helps parents get a general idea, instead of letting them read actual conversations.
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The update is currently available in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, and Brazil, with a global rollout expected in the coming weeks. The feature builds on tools first previewed in October, when Meta said it was exploring ways to guide teens’ use of AI.
This development follows a period of scrutiny for the company. Earlier this year, Meta suspended teen access to its AI characters, which included role-based personas and celebrity-style figures. The decision came just before a legal case in New Mexico, where the company was found liable for failing to protect minors.
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Follow the simple steps below to check what your teenager has discussed with Meta AI:
1. Open the supervision hub on Facebook, Messenger, or Instagram.
2. Navigate to the new Insights tab.
3. View the list of topic categories your teen has interacted with.
4. Tap on a category to explore related subtopics.
5. Use the information as a starting point for discussion with your teen.
Other than that, Meta has also created a group of experts called the AI Wellbeing Expert Council. This group will help make AI safer for young users.