New research commissioned by the NSPCC highlights ways that generative artificial intelligence (AI) is being used to groom, harass, and manipulate children and young people.
The research comes as polling suggests that the UK public are concerned about the rollout of AI.
Savanta surveyed 3,356 people from across the UK in June 2024, including 311 in Yorkshire and the Humber, and found that most of the public (89 per cent nationally, 88 per cent in the region) have some level of concern (ranging from very to slightly concerned) that "this type of technology may be unsafe for children."
The majority of those polled (78 per cent nationally, 76 per cent in the region) said they would prefer to have safety checks on new generative AI products, even if this caused delays in releasing products over a speedy roll-out without safety checks.
The new NSPCC paper shares key findings from research conducted by AWO, a legal and technology consultancy.
The research, entitled Viewing Generative AI and children’s safety in the round, identifies seven key safety risks associated with generative AI: sexual grooming, sexual harassment, bullying, financially motivated extortion, child sexual abuse and exploitation material, harmful content, and harmful ads and recommendations.
Generative AI is currently being used to generate sexual abuse images of children, enable perpetrators to more effectively commit sexual extortion, groom children, and provide misinformation or harmful advice to young people, according to an NSPCC spokesperson.
From as early as 2019, the NSPCC has been receiving contacts from children via Childline about AI.
The NSPCC paper outlines a range of different solutions to address concerns, including stripping out child sexual abuse material from AI training data and doing robust risk assessments on models to ensure they are safe before they are rolled out.
The Government is currently considering new legislation to help regulate AI and there will be a global summit in Paris this February.
The NSPCC is calling on the Government to adopt specific safeguards for children in its legislation.
The charity says four urgent actions are needed by Government to ensure generative AI is safe for children: adopt a duty of care for children’s safety; embed a duty of care in legislation; place children at the heart of generative AI decisions; and develop the research and evidence base on generative AI and child safety.
Chris Sherwood, CEO at the NSPCC, said: "Generative AI is a double-edged sword.
"On the one hand it provides opportunities for innovation, creativity, and productivity that young people can benefit from; on the other it is having a devastating and corrosive impact on their lives."
The report can be viewed at https://learning.nspcc.org.uk/research-resources/2025/generative-ai-childrens-safety
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