OPINION — For families, the online safety conversation is changing in real time. Artificial intelligence is already part of how people search for information, compare products, write emails, finish schoolwork, create images, summarize news and get everyday answers.
That creates enormous opportunities and new risks. AI-generated information can be useful, but it can also be incomplete, misleading or wrong. Because information, images, reviews, messages and voices can now be AI-generated or manipulated in seconds, families need to know when to pause and verify.
According to the Connecting the Digital Dots Online Safety Survey, 53% of seniors say they use AI, and 32% report experiencing online misinformation or disinformation in the past 12 months. Among the “sandwich generation,” 87% use AI, and nearly a third have faced misinformation or disinformation. Unsurprisingly, 91% of teens report using AI, adding to parents’ concerns.
