A new CNBC report from Oct. 13 2025 highlights a growing pattern: children are turning more often to AI chatbots, including ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude, Grok and Copilot, for homework and everyday questions. Experts warn that heavy reliance on these tools can weaken problem solving, source evaluation and other critical thinking skills because chatbots sometimes produce inaccurate or biased answers that young users accept without verification. If left unchecked, this trend could reshape how a generation learns to reason.

Background: why this matters now

AI chatbots are powered by large language models, which predict and generate text from large datasets. While these models can provide fluent explanations and help with drafting, they are not infallible: they can produce plausible but false information, reflect biases in training data, and omit reliable citations. Widespread access to smart devices makes it easy for children to substitute a quick chatbot reply for the slower work of research, verification and reflection. Educators and parents face the dual challenge of integrating useful tools while preserving the cognitive skills students need long term.

Key findings and expert recommendations

The CNBC reporting condenses expert advice into clear, practical measures that focus on AI literacy and responsible AI use in home and school settings. Highlights include:

• Scope: Multiple entry points to AI chatbots for kids make the issue widespread, from teenagers seeking homework help to younger children asking everyday questions.
• Four core protections experts recommend:
  1. Set clear usage rules: Define when AI is allowed and for what tasks. For example, prohibit AI for first drafts of assessments or in class work that is meant to measure independent learning.
  2. Teach verification habits: Train children to check facts, verify sources, and cross reference answers rather than accepting outputs at face value. Build routines around credible sources and fact checking.
  3. Redesign assignments: Create tasks that require analysis, reflection and personal synthesis, such as personalized projects or in class problem solving, types of work that are harder to outsource to a chatbot.
  4. Maintain open conversations: Encourage students to explain how they used AI, what steps they took to verify answers, and what they learned from the process.
• Responsibility beyond households: Companies that build AI models are facing pressure to add age appropriate safeguards, clarity on educational use, and features that support safe AI chatbots for children.

Plain language explainers

• Large language model: A type of AI that predicts and generates text; good at phrasing but not a substitute for verified facts.
• Hallucination: When an AI produces false or unsupported information that sounds plausible.
• Verification: The habit of checking multiple reliable sources before accepting a claim.

Implications and analysis

The practical implications are significant. If students offload cognitive tasks to chatbots, they risk losing practice with skills such as evaluating evidence, constructing arguments and troubleshooting problems. Conversely, responsibly used AI can accelerate learning by offering examples, explanations and scaffolding. Key points to watch:

• Classroom policy will matter: Schools that adopt explicit school AI policies and redesign assessments to require original thinking stand to preserve educational integrity and teach next generation digital literacy.
• Product and regulatory shifts: Expect model providers to add accuracy labels, educational modes and age gates as parents and educators push for safer defaults. Regulators may demand more transparency about sources and known failure modes.
• Equity risk: Schools with limited resources may struggle to provide AI literacy coaching and redesigned curricula, potentially widening gaps between students.

Practical next steps for parents and educators

Use this quick checklist to improve AI literacy and protect critical thinking:

• Establish a household or classroom AI policy that lists allowed and forbidden tasks.
• Introduce short lessons on verification: how to spot credible sources and cross check facts.
• Design at least one assignment per unit that requires personalization, reflection or in class collaboration.
• Model transparency: ask students to show how they used AI and what steps they took to confirm outputs.
• Teach ethical reasoning and responsible AI use so students understand benefits and limitations of generative AI tools in classrooms.

Conclusion

AI chatbots are not inherently harmful nor are they magic fixes for learning; they are tools whose net effect depends on how adults guide use. CNBCs reporting underscores that families and schools can protect critical thinking with concrete rules, teaching verification and assignment design that prioritizes original thought. The next phase will test adaptability: will education systems treat AI as an accelerant for deeper learning or allow it to become a shortcut that dulls essential cognitive skills? Policymakers, companies and educators will all play a role. Parents can begin today by setting clear rules, teaching verification habits and promoting AI literacy at home and in school.