Talking to machines: Children’s experiences with AI assistants and companions
This report provides findings from an online survey exploring children’s experiences with AI assistants and companions.
AI assistants and companions are online chatbot tools that use generative artificial intelligence to understand human languages and mimic human-like conversations.
AI companions are typically positioned as sources of connection, friendship and emotional support, and are often designed to feel personal or relational. In contrast, AI assistants are generally framed as functional tools for performing tasks, obtaining information and supporting learning.
The boundaries between these tool types are increasingly becoming blurred, with both offering features such as memory, personalisation and human-like interaction. Both AI assistants and companions have become a common feature in many of our lives.
A total of 1,950 children aged 10 to 17, living in Australia, participated in the survey, between 2 February and 4 March 2026.
Key findings
- Most children in Australia had used an AI assistant (78%).
- A notable minority of children had used an AI companion (8%).
- Many children who had used AI assistants or companions reported using them regularly, including 20% who used them daily or more.
- Most children who had used an AI assistant or companion had used them for functional reasons, such as information, learning or translation (91%), or writing or editing (70%), while many also used them for entertainment (68%).
- More than half of children who had used an AI assistant or companion (54%) reported using them for personal or social reasons, including advice about what to do in a situation (33%), advice about their physical health (33%), to chat about their feelings or challenges (22%), advice about their mental health or wellbeing (20%), or to ‘hang out together’ or chat about their interests (17%).
- In relation to children’s use of AI assistants specifically – even though these tools tend to be positioned primarily as functional, half of the children who had used AI assistants (50%) told us they had used them for one or more personal or social reasons (such as those outlined in the previous dot point).
- 1 in 5 children who had used an AI assistant or companion (20%) had experienced potentially inappropriate or harmful interactions with these tools.
- Around 1 in 3 children who had used an AI assistant or companion (32%) had shared personal data or potentially sensitive information with it.
The report concludes with a discussion of how to reduce the risks associated with children’s use of AI assistants and companions, with specific considerations for parents, educators who support children or parents, and the technology industry.
Further guidance about AI chatbots and companions is available on the eSafety website, including AI chatbots and companions – risks to children and young people advisory and an AI companions information sheet for educators.
We also note that on 16 October 2025, eSafety gave notices requesting information from four generative AI companion service providers about how they were meeting the Australian Government’s Basic Online Safety Expectation. Read more about the findings from these notices.
