Meta will now allow parents to see the topics their child discussed with Meta AI

Meta announced Thursday that parents using its supervision tools can now see the topics their teen has asked Meta AI about in the past week on Facebook, Messenger or Instagram.

Parents will see a new “Insights” tab in the supervision hub that shows the topics their teen has discussed with the AI ​​chatbot. Topics can range from “School,” “Entertainment” and “Lifestyle” to “Travel,” “Writing” and “Health and Wellness,” Meta says.

Parents can select a topic to see the subcategories that fall within each. For example, “Lifestyle” is divided into fashion, food and holidays, while “Health and well-being” covers fitness, physical health and mental health.

The update is now available in the US, UK, Australia, Canada and Brazil, and will roll out globally in the coming weeks.

Meta first saw these insights back in October when they said they were developing new tools to help parents guide their teens through AI.

Other tools previewed would have allowed parents to block access to specific AI characters or disable them entirely. But Meta suspended teens’ access to its AI characters globally across all its apps in January and said it planned to develop an updated version specifically for teens.

For those unfamiliar, Meta AI characters are interactive AI personas with distinct personalities, designed for users to engage with as if they were real people filling specific roles – like a chef – or as recognizable celebrities, such as Snoop Dogg and Paris Hilton.

Meta suspended the teenagers’ access to those characters just days before a lawsuit against them was due to go to court in New Mexico, accusing the social media giant of failing to protect minors on its platforms. Meta ultimately lost the case, marking the first time a court has held the company legally liable for endangering children’s safety.

That case is one of many lawsuits Meta and other Big Tech companies are facing over child safety. Given the timing, it’s not surprising that Meta stopped access to the AI ​​characters, or that it’s now looking to inform parents about what their child is discussing with the Meta AI.

Meta also announced Wednesday that it is providing parents with suggested conversation starters to help them talk openly and without judgment about their teens’ experiences with AI. In addition, the company says it is launching a new AI Wellbeing Expert Council to help shape the development of its AI products for teenagers.