Gemini entry into the world of children

Google has announced that it will activate a copy of its artificial intelligence robot called Gemini in the coming weeks for children under the age of 5; The decision that has made widespread concerns about privacy, mental health and children’s access to inappropriate content despite promises to security.

This feature is currently activated in the United States and Canada, and will be released in Australia by the end of this year. It is possible to use Gemini for children only through parental accounts in Google Family Link.

Active default access; Parents should be manually disabled

According to published information, access to Gemini will be activated by default for children, and parents should personally disable it. Children will be able to ask for response from this textual and video robot, from assistance to homework to image design with a simple command.

But Google has acknowledged that the system may be wrong; The subject known in the world of chats as “illusion”; That is, producing inaccurate information. For this reason, children’s use of Gemini for goals such as homework may confuse them, especially if they do not know the difference between a search engine and a pattern -based content production tool.

When the filters get into trouble

Google has promised that the system will have “internal constraints to prevent inappropriate or dangerous content production.” However, experts warn that these restrictions may also censor useful scientific or educational information.

Today’s children are also intelligent and fluent in technology, many of which find ways to bypass parental controls. For this reason, technical tools alone cannot be trusted, and parents should actively review the content produced and talk to their children about the accuracy and mechanism of smart robots.

From gaining trust to mental deceit

Chats like Gemini are designed to simulate human behavior; They imitate human “laws”, such as saying “thank you” or “sorry” in everyday situations. These behaviors create false trust in users, especially children. A child who is unable to distinguish between fabrication may imagine that he or she is talking to a real human being and consider the content received as pure truth.

Hidden risks beyond social networks

Google’s decision comes as the Australian government plans to ban a social media account for people under the age of five since December. But since Gemini is not a social network tool, it will be excluded from the law. This means that the ban on social networks alone cannot secure children in digital space.

In fact, parents with any new technology, like a “mice and hammer game”, should constantly pursue emerging threats. In this case, the adoption of “digital responsibility” rules for technology companies seems vital.

Legislation is essential, not just moral advice

While the European Union and the United Kingdom have been adopted by the Digital Care Task Force since the beginning of the year, the Australian version of the law has been suspended since November. Implementation of such rules can require companies like Google to actively prevent the expansion of harmful content, not merely relying on parents to monitor.