Technologies

Young Kids’ Screen Time Now Includes AI Chatbots, Parents Say

In a broad look at how children ages 5 to 12 are interacting with technology, 42% of parents said they could be doing better.

How old do you have to be to start using an AI chatbot? In some families, children as young as kindergarten age are already engaging with the likes of ChatGPT and Gemini.

That’s according to a new survey from Pew Research, which reports that 3% of parents who responded said that their children ages 5 to 7 had ever used a chatbot. That jumps to 7% for parents with children between 8 and 10 years old and to 15% for those between 11 and 12.

About 40% of parents said their 12-or-under children used voice assistants like Alexa and Siri.

The findings come out of a survey of more than 3,000 US parents that looked broadly at how they’re managing screen time for their children. While the AI chatbot usage averaged out to about 8%, or nearly 1 in 10 children, there were far higher numbers for screen use in that age group, including 90% for television, 68% for tablets and 61% for smartphones.

Many parents find keeping up a challenge, with 42% saying they could better manage their kids’ screen time and 58% saying they’re doing the best they can.

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The use of artificial intelligence by children and teens has stirred unease for many people. In August, OpenAI added parental controls to ChatGPT after a family sued the company, alleging the chatbot had been a factor in the suicide of their 16-year-old son. Some states have also issued warnings to AI companies about technology that may be harmful to children.

(Disclosure: Ziff Davis, CNET’s parent company, in April filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.)

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Apple’s New Smart Home Display Delayed Until Fall Over Siri Issues

It has been nearly a year and a half since the company announced the AI-powered product.

Your home could get smarter with Apple’s Siri, but it will have to wait a few more months. Bloomberg reported the iPad-shaped AI home hub won’t be ready until September, several months after the company was hoping to launch it this spring. Apple engineers first need to complete work on a new and improved Siri assistant for the home device, code-named J490, according to Bloomberg.

Apple was hoping to release J490 this month, along with a slew of other new devices, including the iPhone 17e, MacBook Neo, MacBook Air M5, new Pro models, and iPad Air M4. Apple first teased the smart home display in November 2024.

A representative for Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Siri is Apple’s virtual assistant that uses voice recognition and AI to fulfill a variety of tasks and commands, along with intriguing uses. You might use Siri to find your iPhone — «Hey Siri, where are you?» — or to hear the weather forecast — «Siri, what will the weather be today?» Siri is available on iPhones, MacBooks and iPads. It was launched in 2011 as a feature of the iPhone 4S.

As CNET reported last month, Apple engineers have struggled to push the upgraded Siri assistant out the door. It isn’t fast enough, gets confused by complex commands and doesn’t interact well with other Apple AI models. The company is also wrestling with how much personal data to access to inform the AI, and the new Siri is not yet able to complete in-app tasks, such as finding a photo and posting it to socials, all with one command.

It has been nearly two years since Apple announced that it would give Siri a major upgrade. In the meantime, competitors like Alexa Plus and Gemini for Home have entered the marketplace.

Tech tester Jon Rettinger, whose YouTube channel has 1.66 million subscribers, says the repeated delays in upgrading Siri can «erode» confidence in Apple’s ability to keep up in the AI race.

«Apple as a whole is still one of the strongest companies on the planet. But their AI play is clearly the weakest link in an otherwise very strong chain,» Rettinger told CNET.

Rettinger said he has had issues getting Siri to complete basic commands, such as setting two alarms at the same time, and that it’s a bit of «a mess» right now.

«Having said that, the iPhone has such massive market penetration that I’m not sure it will actually matter in the end. Which is kind of wild when you think about it,» Rettinger said.

Facial recognition for residents

The hardware for the forthcoming smart home display has already been finished. It resembles an iPad and can be either attached to a wall or rest on a half-domed-shaped base, the Bloomberg report said.

The device will be equipped with facial recognition, so when residents walk up to it, they will be shown personalized data such as music preferences, news headlines, appointments, reminders, tasks and so on.

The screen interface will include a bunch of circular app icons, similar to the display on an Apple Watch. The Bloomberg report said the smart home display will be the first of several home devices by Apple. Future products include a tabletop robotic limb with a 9-inch screen, a smart security camera and a Face ID-enabled smart doorbell.