Our team at Angel Kids had the privilege of participating in the recent CogX Festival in L.A.— a leading gathering of AI innovators focused on responsible AI development. It was an incredible opportunity to engage in crucial conversations about the impact of AI on the mental health and well-being of the next generation—an issue that deeply resonates with our mission at Angel Kids.
Being part of CogX allowed us to share our perspective, connect with like-minded leaders, and reaffirm our commitment to pioneering ethical AI solutions. The experience brought into focus the immense responsibility we have as AI innovators and the critical importance of the work we're doing at Angel Kids.
Here are the key takeaways from our team's experience at CogX:
I've seen firsthand the incredible potential of technology to enrich children's lives, but also the very real risks it poses to their well-being. It's not just a personal experience though. The work of social psychologist Jonathan Haidt, especially his book "The Anxious Generation," has been a major influence on my thinking.
Haidt lays out compelling evidence that the rise of smartphones and social media has gone hand-in-hand with alarming increases in depression, anxiety, and self-harm among adolescents—particularly girls. He pinpoints the period from 2010-2015 as "the Great Rewiring," when features like the App Store, push notifications, front-facing cameras, and viral social media completely transformed childhood. Smartphones went from being helpful tools to becoming major distractions and vehicles for addiction.
So, how did we get to this point in the tech industry?
There are a few key factors at play. First, social media platforms are engineered to be addictive. They exploit core aspects of human psychology to keep users hooked, which is having devastating effects on children's mental health.
Second, the breakneck pace of AI development has far outpaced regulatory oversight and society's readiness for the technology. Powerful AI algorithms allow companies to funnel even more addictive content to users, while bad actors are using AI for deeply harmful purposes like creating deepfakes or extorting kids.
Finally, the tech industry has far too often prioritized growth and engagement over the well-being of children. We've underprotected kids online even as we've overprotected them offline. Those are the brutal realities we're grappling with.
Tech companies could have been much more proactive in considering the potential negative impacts on children. There could have been more collaboration among companies, policymakers, educators, and child development experts to design technology that actually promotes healthy development. Instead of this relentless race for attention, there could have been a race to create the most beneficial digital environments for kids.
Haidt makes a great point that we need to give kids more freedom offline and more protection online. I completely agree. We need to proactively shape technology, especially AI, to align with our values and what's truly best for children. That's the mindset shift that's needed.
AI is a huge part of this equation, but it’s also a double-edged sword. On one hand, AI has immense potential to personalize learning, increase access to information, and help solve big problems. But it can also be used to create even more addictive technologies, spread misinformation, and enable seriously harmful practices.
As we’ve previously talked about in our article in Newsweek, if social media is already "digital heroin" for youth, enhanced AI could become their fentanyl, amplifying its addictive and harmful effects. AI has been used for years in non-transparent ways inside these social media companies. The newest AI tech creates even more leverage through manipulated language and media. Instead, we need to harness AI's power to serve human values and well-being, not just commercial interests.
Our goal is to create a platform, fostering digital environments that are not only safe and healthy for children, but that actively promote their development. Angel Kids is designed to be a nurturing companion that encourages exploration and learning, upholds safety and privacy, facilitates healthy digital experiences, and provides allyship for parents.
We've worked hard to create a question-and-answer experience that's compelling, age-appropriate, and integrates external content to enrich learning. At the same time, we've made it intuitive for parents to guide what their kids can access while giving them deeper insights into what their children are curious about and grappling with.
We've developed a robust three-layer safety mechanism for age-appropriate interactions. When a child's question triggers a sensitive topic, Angel Kids defers to parents, alerting them to these teachable moments. It's about empowering parents to understand their child better and reinforce universal values such as discouraging harm, fostering empathy, encouraging truthfulness, and promoting healthy offline engagement. We give parents the tools to bring parenting into the online world in a simple, yet powerful way. Crucially, Angel Kids is deeply committed to the privacy of our families. We will always be free of advertising, and we will never sell your child’s data to the highest bidder.
Where are we with Angel Kids, and what's our roadmap?
We're robustly developing the core AI technology and safety architecture through our application. Beta testing continues with select families in four countries, and the response has been overwhelmingly positive.
Angel Kids can answer kids' questions in an empathetic, age-appropriate way, provide access to relevant and safe content, and give parents a living journal of their child's curiosity. We currently have an active waitlist on our site—angelkids.ai—and we'll be opening up Angel Kids to everyone who signs up over the summer.
Our aim is to make Angel Kids available to every child, in every home, and to continuously improve based on feedback and the latest research in child development and AI. Angel Kids will support families online and offline. We understand the connection between healthy screen time and life balance, and we’ll continue to steer kids toward habits that boost their well-being.
It's important to note that this is one piece of a larger effort that needs to occur in order to make a significant change. Angel Kids is our contribution to that effort, and it'll take a collective push to reshape the digital landscape. We invite you to join us.
Tim Estes
CEO & Founder, @ Angel Kids