AI for kids: Austin father aims to create child-safe chatbot

AUSTIN, Texas - As kids in Central Texas head back to school they may turn to AI resources like chatbots to get information and ask questions about growing up. One Austin father and entrepreneur created Pinwheel GPT as a safe way for kids to do that. 

Pinwheel originally started making smartphones for kids about three years ago. Their smartphones feature ways for parents to monitor their kid’s activity and their contact list. For the past year, Pinwheel has been sifting through hundreds of millions of teen and kid text messages to create a child-appropriate language model using a human-like voice. There’s no explicit content or links to the web. 

The unique extra layer of Pinwheel GPT is that parents can jump in the conversation, clarify answers, and take a peek into their child’s curiosity. 

Pinwheel CEO Dane Witbeck says you shouldn’t be scared of AI and that this generation of the technology is not dangerous because it cannot replace humans entirely without emotions. 

"It really is a machine that's just mimicking humans. It has no emotions and no intentionality," Witbeck said. "Besides, just to make you a little bit happier and to try to solve your problems today and so it doesn't have any emotions around it."  

Another worry you might have is that your kid might use AI to cheat on their homework. Witbeck says in their testing students used their chatbot in a number of creative ways – asking questions about relationships and even ideas for their science fair projects. 

According to the Pew Research Center, two-thirds of parents say parenting is harder today than it was 20 years ago because of smartphones. Witbeck says the majority of conflicts between parents and their kids are centered around technology. 

"The general advice I have for parents always on kids in tech is to start with the relationship with them first," Witbeck said. "Never try to deceive your kids about anything that you're doing. Don't try to spy on them without them knowing. I always tell them ‘I am spying on you. I am. I am looking at what you're doing because I love you and care about you’. And boundaries are important for you to develop in a healthy and appropriate way. So make sure that you're focused on that relationship with them first." 

The technology is free to use for your child’s first 20 questions each month. For pricing and more information you can go to https://www.pinwheel.com/gpt.  

It’s simple to use. You can access it from your web browser or download it in the iOS or Google Play store.