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Almost four in five British teenagers have used generative AI tools and services, according to the media watchdog, underscoring the rapid adoption of the fast-evolving technology among a new generation of internet users.
Ofcom found that 79 per cent of 13 to 17-year-olds, and about 40 per cent of children between seven and 12 have used AI for school work or leisure. This compares to less than a third of adults who have experimented with the technology.
The most popular generative AI tool among children and teens is Snapchat’s My AI, especially among teenage girls, according to the study published on Tuesday. ChatGPT is the most widely used generative AI service among internet users aged over 16.
Yih-Choung Teh, Ofcom’s strategy and research group director, said adoption of new technology came “as second nature to Gen Z”, but added that the regulator recognised the concerns about the risks posed by AI.
Earlier this month, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak hosted an AI summit at which 28 countries, including the US, China and India, agreed to co-operate on AI development. However, Sunak said he would not “rush to regulate” the sector.
Ofcom said that some AI tools would fall under the scope of new online safety laws, adding: “We’ll be looking at how these companies are proactively assessing the safety risks of their products and implementing effective mitigations to protect users from potential harms.”
People were spending an extra two days annually online, as daily internet usage reached three hours and 41 minutes compared to last year, according to Ofcom’s study into the UK’s digital habits. Young adults aged 18 to 24 spent the most time online at four hours 36 minutes daily.
Alphabet-owned YouTube replaced Meta’s Facebook as the most visited website in the UK, with 91 per cent and 90.7 per cent of adult users respectively visiting the two sites in May.
Meta-owned social media and communication apps WhatsApp, Facebook, Facebook Messenger and Instagram were the most-used smartphone apps by adults.
The study found that more than 10 per cent of adults had visited a dating service, rising to 1 in 5 for 25-to-34-year-olds.
About a third of adult internet users accessed pornographic content online, with more visits during the day than in the evenings. Almost three-quarters of visitors were male, according to the study.
Two-thirds of adults reported that they had seen or experienced “online harms” with more than a third doing so via their personalised feed. Online harms include scams, fraud or phishing, and hateful, offensive or discriminatory content.
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