Why teens deserve access to safe AI

What happened

Teens are the first generation growing up with AI, and this technology will heavily shape their future. Today, nearly 9 in 10 teens on ChatGPT use it for learning, information, skill-building, or productivity in a single week. This is why we believe it’s critical for teens to have access to AI.

Early evaluation of tools like Study Mode has shown promising gains in student performance⁠, helping inform our broader research into how AI can support learning outcomes. While teens can turn this mode on themselves, now parents with linked teen accounts can turn on Study Mode⁠ directly from Parental Controls⁠.

When enabled, it is on by default whenever a teen starts a new chat, giving families another way to guide how ChatGPT is used for schoolwork and study. We also recently introduced education-focused starter prompts for teens so it is easier to begin with tasks like breaking down a topic into simple steps, turning notes into a study guide, creating flashcards or practice questions, and checking evidence and clarity.

We’re continuing to expand interactive learning experiences⁠ as well. Research has consistently shown⁠ that people learn more effectively when they can actively engage with concepts rather than passively consume information. Since launching earlier this year, 18 million weekly users now engage with interactive math and science experiences in ChatGPT, and we’ve expanded those experiences to more than 250 new topics, from integrals and mitosis to moon phases, photosynthesis and more.

That includes stronger safeguards around graphic violence, self-harm, risky viral challenges, unhealthy body-image content, and dangerous, romantic, or sexual ro

Why it matters

Keeping teens from using it until adulthood would be like asking a previous generation to avoid the internet or search engines until they turned 18, leaving them less prepared to use one of the defining technologies of their time. But access must be paired with protections designed specifically for teens.

1 in her high school class by studying smarter and managing her workload—giving her the time needed for the sports and school programs she loves. Her story illustrates what’s possible when teens have access to AI that helps them learn and create.

To maximize those gains, teens need stronger protections designed for their stage of life, including automated guardrails that let them explore, learn, and build with confidence, while providing safeguards tailored to their age. As AI becomes more capable, our responsibility is to combine broad access with age-appropriate protections that allow teens to benefit from this technology as it evolves.

Over the past year, that has meant strengthening default protections for teens, rolling out age prediction⁠, expanding Parental Controls⁠, creating additional family resources⁠(opens in a new window) to help parents support healthy, responsible use, and introducing learning features to help support deeper understanding rather than just providing answers.

Learning is one of the clearest ways teens benefit from AI, so we’re building tools that encourage active engagement, critical thinking, and deeper understanding. Study Mode⁠(opens in a new window) was designed in collaboration with teachers, learning scientists, and pedagogy experts to help students work through problems step by step using guiding questions, structured explanations, and opportunities for reflection without simply providing the answer.

What to watch

We also introduced a pronunciation experience that uses audio to help people learn how to pronounce words in more than 61 languages. If our system estimates someone using ChatGPT is under 18,⁠ we automatically provide a more age-appropriate experience⁠(opens in a new window). Teens can still use ChatGPT to learn, create, and explore, but with additional protections designed to reduce exposure to content that may not be appropriate for them.