The government is considering banning children under the age of 16 from using AI chatbots as part of their consultation to keep young people safe online.
Technology minister Liz Kendall said the government is looking at whether AI chatbots should be covered by age restrictions, similar to those being considered for social media.
Ministers have been under pressure to enforce an Australian-style ban on social media for young people, amid concerns over the impact it can have on children’s welfare and development.
The government has launched a consultation to gather public opinion on a ban, which will also look at how to limit addictive design features on AI chatbots and games.
Asked on Sunday whether the government is considering banning AI chatbots for under 16s, Ms Kendall said: “We are certainly looking at whether there should be those age restrictions overall, as well as the individual features.”
Speaking on the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme, she said: “You had a whole program about AI chatbots, and we are going to bring them under the Online Safety Act.
“We’ve already legislated to say that AI chatbots are brought under the Online Safety Act for in terms of what’s illegal, and we will also bring them in for what’s harmful for children.”
She added: “The issue is not, let’s be clear here, if we’re going to act – but how.”
Despite nearly 50,000 responses to a government consultation on keeping children safe online, Ms Kendall has called on more young people to reply before it closes in five weeks, because the respondents so far include only around 6,000 children.
Ms Kendall and the NSPCC is set to meet young people to discuss how AI and technology are shaping childhood at a Childhood in the Age of AI summit on Monday.
It comes after Sir Keir Starmer hauled tech chiefs into Downing Street on Thursday to say the risks faced by children on social media “can’t go on like this”, but could not guarantee action by the summer to crack down on harms.
Although there has been pressure from parents to ban under-16s from social media, some campaigners have warned lawmakers against “rushing into” the move after it emerged the government has carried out no internal modelling of its key impacts.
Peers have twice voted to introduce an age limit in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, but MPs recently rejected another bid by the Lords to bar youngsters immediately from accessing the platforms.
The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) revealed it has “not done any modelling or analysis” on the impact such measures would have in areas such as mental health, access to news and how young people might bypass any restrictions.
In response to a Freedom of Information (FOI) request by the Press Association, the department said internal modelling had not been carried out because “clear, agreed evidence does not currently exist”.
Andy Burrows, chief executive of Molly Rose Foundation, said: “Parents are rightly demanding action from government to protect children online but they want solutions to be effective and safe.
“It is crucial the government follows all the available evidence about an under-16 social media ban before rushing into it and the consultation provides an opportunity to do this.”