Better Internet for Kids

“The internet is not a separate part of young people’s lives. It is a central arena for identity, engagement, and power.” With those words, Devansh Kashyap from the National Union of Students in Sweden (Elevernas Riksförbund) opened the roundtable discussion that brought together the Swedish Safer Internet Centre’s youth panel and additional representatives from youth organisations.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is now an integral part of our everyday lives. Young people in particular already use AI extensively - whether it’s AI chatbots for communication, AI search engines for school and everyday things, or AI avatars for social media or games. However, AI not only offers opportunities, but also risks: deepfakes, disinformation, idealised beauty standards by AI influencers, and the feared loss of creativity or creative jobs.

In this edition, a special focus was placed on the use of artificial intelligence (AI), particularly on chatbots.The main findings of the report at a glance: According to their own assessment, online communication benefits many young peopleAmong 17-to 30-year-olds, 57 per cent believe that chatting or online communication contributes to their mental wellbeing.  49 per cent also perceive the use of AI chatbots (such as ChatGPT) as having a positive effect on their wellbeing. 

The majority of teachers – as many as 81 per cent – are concerned that young people using generative artificial intelligence will become addicted to it. Among the risks, educators mentioned the lack of critical thinking skills, superficialisation of knowledge, and deterioration of relationships between students. However, there are also benefits, such as saving time doing tasks, increased creativity, and the automation of routine tasks.