Concern 479 · Working draft · editorial review in progress
Grooming risks
AI-related grooming risks arise when generated identities or conversations help an abuser build trust with a child, or when unsafe systems normalize exploitative behavior.
Understanding the concern
Grooming involves manipulating trust and boundaries to enable abuse. AI could help an offender maintain a false persona or repeated contact. Separately, a companion that exposes children to sexualized or coercive interactions can create safety risks even when no human offender controls each message.
These are related but different pathways. A 2026 eSafety report examined safeguards reported by four companion services, rather than proving that every service facilitates grooming. Age-appropriate design, clear reporting routes and trusted adult support matter. Responsibility rests with abusers and service providers, not with a child for being curious or trusting.
An example
A young user encounters a supposedly friendly service that does not maintain appropriate boundaries.
Illustrative unless identified as a documented case.
Words in plain English
- AI
- Software that learns patterns from examples or uses rules to perform tasks such as recognizing images or generating text. It can make mistakes and does not understand every situation as a person would.
Evidence and its limits
The regulator's bounded review supports concerns about safeguards. It does not establish the frequency of offender-operated AI grooming.
Australian eSafety Commissioner · March 2026 · Regulatory transparency report
eSafety report shows AI companions are putting children at risk ↗ (opens in a new tab)Summarizes four services' responses; a bounded review of reported safeguards, not every chatbot.
Broader frameworks and background
These resources provide context. They do not establish every claim in this concern.
- OECD AI Incidents and Hazards Monitor (opens in a new tab)
incidents
- AI Incident Database (opens in a new tab)
incidents
- International humanitarian law (IHL)
framework
The body of law that governs the conduct of armed conflict and the protection of people who are not fighting, which applies to AI used in or for conflict.
A question to discuss
What safeguards should exist before a conversational service is made available to children?
Keep track of different views, what needs checking, and any next step in your own discussion notes.
Open discussion notes →Principles for the conversation
Before you finish · reflect together
Virtues and principles to consider
Virtues are qualities we practice in how we treat people and make choices. They are not scores for judging someone. Use these ideas to explore what a thoughtful response could look like.
Truthfulness
Truthfulness means making claims that match the evidence and being clear about what we do not know. It includes correcting mistakes rather than protecting a polished story.
Check sources, label guesses, and distinguish a trial result from a proven benefit. If AI helped produce a claim, someone still needs to take responsibility for checking it.
Ask together: What can we honestly say, and what still needs checking?
Meaningful conversation
Conversation means making room to understand and be understood. It is more than winning a debate or collecting quick agreement. People can explore a question together without starting from the same view.
Use a concrete example, invite different experiences, and ask what might change each person's mind. Let concerns and hopes sit together long enough to reveal choices that a simple yes-or-no argument would miss.
Ask together: What can we learn from each other before deciding?
Unity
Unity means working toward shared purposes while making room for real differences. It does not require everyone to have the same experience, beliefs, or opinion.
Look for a goal people can share, then explore disagreements about how to reach it. Make sure quieter or less powerful voices can influence the result.
Ask together: What purpose can we share while respecting our differences?
Editorial ratings
These are editorial judgments from the register, not measured probabilities or predictions about your situation.
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