AI chatbots are becoming unregulated sex educators for kids

Children are being exposed to pornography at an average age of 12—with 15% seeing explicit content before age 10—while AI chatbots simultaneously emerge as unregulated sex educators capable of engaging minors in sexual conversations. This digital exposure is fundamentally reshaping how young people understand intimacy and consent, creating a generation that paradoxically has less sex overall but engages in significantly more aggressive sexual behaviors when they do.

What you should know: The majority of children’s first encounters with explicit content happen accidentally, but the psychological impact is profound and lasting.

• More than half of kids reported seeing adult content accidentally through misleading links, according to a 2022 Common Sense Media survey.
• By age 17, three out of four teens have viewed pornography, with 41% accessing it during school hours.
• 45% of teens felt that online pornography provided “helpful information about sex,” indicating they view it as educational content.

The content is more violent than parents realize: Today’s mainstream pornography depicts extreme acts that disturb even adults with sexual experience.

• 84% of pornographic images children view show acts of violence, rape, and choking someone in pain.
• Adults frequently report feeling disturbed by content on popular porn websites, yet children are processing this material without guidance.
• “What would it have been like to see a video of aggressive sex when you were in the third grade?” the article asks, highlighting the developmental inappropriateness of such exposure.

AI chatbots are the new frontier: Artificial intelligence companions are now providing sexual education through unregulated conversations with minors.

• Many AI chatbots are free, lack meaningful age verification, and can quickly shift into explicit territory.
• Children can engage in hours-long conversations with AI “friends” who may encourage sexual talk or normalize unhealthy behaviors.
• These digital relationships are emerging alongside traditional pornography as primary sources of sexual information for young people.

Conservative areas show higher consumption: States with stricter sex education policies paradoxically consume more pornography than liberal regions.

• A Harvard study found eight of the top 10 porn-consuming states were conservative, with Utah leading in adult-content subscriptions per capita.
• 50% of parochial school students report seeing pornographic videos at school, compared to only 26% in traditional public schools.
• This data challenges assumptions that restrictive environments provide more protection.

The behavioral impact is measurable: Despite consuming more sexual content, young people are having less sex—but when they do, it’s increasingly aggressive.

• Research by Dr. Debby Herbenick at Indiana University found nearly two-thirds of college women reported being choked by a partner during sex.
• One-third experienced choking in their most recent sexual encounter.
• 40% of women were between ages 12-17 when first choked during sex, up from 25% in previous years.

Why this matters: The convergence of pornography and AI as primary sex educators is creating a generation whose understanding of intimacy is shaped by content designed for adult entertainment rather than healthy relationships.

What experts recommend: Parents must initiate conversations about sex, pornography, and AI before digital content fills the educational void.

• Research consistently shows parental conversations help children manage sexualized digital environments.
• Parents should explain that “porn is sex theatre for adults, generally based on fantasy and not necessarily what people want to be doing in their bedrooms.”
• Conversations should address that pornography typically ignores crucial aspects of intimacy like love, tender touch, and consent.