Meta revealed on Thursday that parents utilizing its supervision tools can now access the topics their teenagers have inquired about with Meta AI over the past week on Facebook, Messenger, or Instagram. A new “Insights” tab within the supervision hub will display the topics their teens have been discussing with the AI chatbot, covering categories like “School,” “Entertainment,” “Lifestyle,” “Travel,” “Writing,” and “Health and Wellbeing,” among others, Meta reports.
Parents can choose a topic to view its subcategories. For instance, “Lifestyle” includes fashion, food, and holidays, while “Health and Wellbeing” includes fitness, physical health, and mental health.
This update is currently available in the U.S., U.K., Australia, Canada, and Brazil, with a global rollout expected in the upcoming weeks.
Meta initially previewed these insights in October while announcing its progress on new tools aimed at aiding parents in guiding their teens through AI interactions.
Other anticipated tools might have let parents restrict access to certain AI characters or disable them completely. Nonetheless, Meta paused teenagers’ access to its AI characters globally across its apps in January, indicating a revamped version tailored for teens was in development.
For context, Meta AI characters are interactive AI personas with distinct personalities, which allow users to interact as if they were engaging with real individuals in specific roles—such as a chef—or as known celebrities like Snoop Dogg and Paris Hilton.
Meta restricted teens’ access to these characters shortly before a trial was set in New Mexico, implicating the social media giant in allegedly failing to safeguard minors on its platforms. Meta eventually lost the case, marking a historic legal accountability for the company regarding child safety.
This case is among many lawsuits confronting Meta and other major tech companies in relation to child safety concerns. Given the context, Meta’s decision to restrict AI character access and its initiative to inform parents about their child’s interactions with Meta AI are understandable.
On Wednesday, Meta also announced the introduction of suggested conversation starters for parents, aiming to facilitate open and judgment-free discussions about teens’ AI experiences. Furthermore, Meta is establishing a new AI Wellbeing Expert Council to guide the creation of its AI products for teens.