Meta has introduced new parental supervision tools that allow parents to see the topics their teenagers have discussed with Meta AI over the past seven days on Facebook, Messenger and Instagram.
The company said parents supervising Teen Accounts can now access a new Insights tab through in-app supervision tools and on the web. The feature is currently available in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and Brazil, and will be rolled out globally in the coming weeks.
According to Meta, the tool is aimed at helping parents better understand how teenagers are using artificial intelligence and begin conversations about their online experiences.
“Parents supervising Teen Accounts can now see the topics their teen has asked Meta AI about in the last seven days.”
Meta said the topics visible to parents may include areas such as School, Entertainment, Lifestyle, Travel, Writing, and Health and Wellbeing. Parents can also tap on a topic to view related categories.
For example, Lifestyle may include fashion, food and holidays, while Health and Wellbeing may include fitness, physical health and mental health.
The company said the new feature is only the first phase of the initiative.
“This is just the starting point. As we roll out these insights to parents around the world, we’ll keep listening to feedback from both parents and experts, and explore ways to make them even more valuable.”
Meta said the new parental insights complement safety protections already in place for Teen Accounts. It said Meta AI may refuse to answer some questions from teens or direct them to external support resources where appropriate.
The company added that it is also developing alerts for parents if a teen attempts to engage in conversations related to suicide or self-harm.
“We recently announced that we’re developing new alerts to let parents know if their teen tries to engage in conversations related to suicide or self-harm with Meta AI — and we’ll have more to share on those alerts soon.”
Meta said the supervision system already allows parents to set time limits, schedule breaks and view who their teen has chatted with over the past week.
The company noted growing adoption of the tools in the United States.
“We’re encouraged to see these tools are proving helpful to families, with the number of US teens enrolled in supervision more than doubling since last year.”
Meta also announced that it has partnered with the Cyberbullying Research Center to create conversation starters for parents. These are designed to help families discuss AI use in a non-judgmental manner.
“We understand that AI is a new and evolving technology, and one that parents may not always feel confident talking about with their teens.”
In addition, Meta introduced its new AI Wellbeing Expert Council, which will advise the company on making AI products safer and age-appropriate for teens.
The council includes experts linked to the National Council for Suicide Prevention, the University of Michigan, the University of Texas and the University of Southern California, among others.
