By: Jonathan Shen

AI (Artificial Intelligence) storytelling on the internet and in social media apps like TikTok can be harmful and dangerous to kids.

When people get on social media apps, they might see posts of people telling stories, but nowadays, the person might seem real but really isn’t real. Their stories might even include inappropriate content.

This is known as AI Storytelling. That features made up humans that talk whatever the creator of the video wants it to talk. This AI has a special ability of fabricating a fake person into real life.

Alisha Aurora, an MIT intern, TikTok user, and a member of UNICEF who lives in Mississauga, Ontario, has a very good sense of AI. She has even advised government policies towards AI technology.

The first time Aurora saw AI storytelling on TikTok, she thought it was real. She said to CBC kids news, “I actually thought it was real. It’s hard to draw the line between what’s real and what’s fake.”

This trend is just a type of AI-generated content. Not just adults view those videos, kids also see this generated content and concerns arise.

For example, the creator of a video like this can make the AI say words that are inappropriate, show inappropriate things, and tell stories that aren’t appropriate for children. Some stories even include violence, harm, abuse against children, racist stereotypes, and sexual content.

Kids News spoke to Guy Gadney, the Charisma.ai company’s Founder and CEO about the concerns of AI technology.

Charisma is a tool that uses AI technology to help people use platforms that create content that they want.

However, Gadney has said that AI is full of possibilities, many of those subjects are good, but cautions that it can also be used to create harmful content.

Gadney said, “Kids especially like to experiment and push the edges of what’s possible and that’s OK, that’s part of imagination. I would just urge people who are putting up those apps or those systems to think about what they’re doing.”

Gadney also added that the toxic and bad elements in AI should not be used or encouraged, it’s very necessary to regulate and control this.

Even though we cannot specifically control the videos that pop up on our feed, it’s possible to ignore it. Gadney has said that, “If you’re seeing something, which is really negative or toxic, move away from it.”