Snapchat's My AI: what parents should know

Short answer: My AI is a chatbot that sits pinned near the top of your child's Snapchat chat list, it is there by default, and if your child is on Snapchat they almost certainly have it whether or not you have heard of it. It is not the most dangerous thing on the phone. It is the thing on the phone most likely to be treated as a friend, and it keeps everything it is told.

That last part is the bit most parents miss, so let me start there.

What My AI is, and what it keeps

I checked Snapchat's own pages on the date at the top of this post. Here is what they say.

The age rule. Snapchat's minimum age is 13. There is no children's version.

What it runs on. Snapchat describes My AI as powered by large language models like GPT models from OpenAI and Gemini models from Google, with Snapchat's own safety layers on top. Those layers block drug keywords and slang and surface the app's "Here For You" mental-health resources. So underneath, it is the same kind of engine as ChatGPT, dressed as a friend in the chat list.

What Snapchat itself warns. The company's own page says My AI's responses "may include biased, incorrect, harmful, or misleading content", and tells users not to share confidential or sensitive information with it. I could not have written a better summary of Chapter 18 myself.

What it keeps. Snapchat is built on messages that disappear. My AI is the exception. Snapchat's page says that, unlike chats with friends, all messages with My AI are retained until the user deletes them, and may be used to improve Snap's products and to personalise the experience, "including ads". A child who has learned that Snapchat is the app where things vanish will assume My AI is the same. It is the opposite.

Location. Snap has said My AI can use a Snapchatter's location if location sharing is on.

Can you remove it? My AI is pinned near the top of the chat list. Whether it can be unpinned or removed has depended on whether the account pays for Snapchat+. Check on your child's phone; the option moves.

The privacy rule: only what you would show a stranger

Chapter 18 gives one rule for every AI tool, and it is the rule for My AI: if your child would not hand it to a stranger in the street, it does not go in. A selfie, a school name, a home suburb, the name of the boy they like, the fact that they are not eating. All of it is retained, all of it may shape what they are shown.

The reason this matters more with My AI than with ChatGPT is where it lives. ChatGPT is an app you open to do something. My AI sits in the same list as your child's best friends, answers in the same bubble, and is awake at 2 a.m. when the friends are not. It is very easy for a thirteen-year-old to slide from "what's the capital of Peru" to "can I tell you something I haven't told anyone".

The three habits from Chapter 18, as I say them at home: never your full name, school, address or a photo that shows where you are. If a thing is free, ask what you are paying with; on Snapchat the page tells you, it is ads. And prefer tools built for children where they exist; Snapchat is not one.

What to do on your child's phone tonight

Ten minutes, with your child beside you, not behind them. Frame it the way Chapter 10 suggests: "This isn't because I don't trust you. It's like the smoke alarm. It's because I love you."

1. Set up Family Center. It is free. You send an invitation from your own Snapchat account and your teenager, aged 13 to 17, has to accept it, so this is a conversation, not a stealth operation. Once linked you can see their friend list, who they have chatted with in the past seven days, and their average daily time on the app with a breakdown by activity. You can request location sharing, report accounts, and restrict sensitive content in Stories and Spotlight. You cannot read messages, including My AI chats, and I would not want to.

2. Turn off My AI's ability to respond. This is a Family Center control. For a 13 to 15-year-old I would switch it off tonight and explain why: "It keeps everything, and it sounds like a friend but isn't one." For an older teenager, talk it through first; a control they understand survives longer than one they resent.

3. Check location sharing. For teen accounts Snapchat says location sharing is off by default. Confirm it on their phone, in the Snap Map settings, and look at who they are sharing with. If anything is shared with Snapchat, assume My AI can use it.

4. Delete My AI's data. In the app's Settings, under the privacy controls, there is an option to clear My AI's data; the wording moves around, so look under Privacy Controls or Clear Data. Do it together, and explain that this is the only bit of Snapchat that does not clear itself.

5. Look at whether My AI can be unpinned or removed on their account. If it can, let your child choose; a chatbot they removed themselves stays removed.

6. Say the rule out loud. "Only what you'd show a stranger in the street." Then ask your child to say it back.

By age

Ages 5 to 8. No Snapchat, full stop. There is nothing here for a seven-year-old. If they have seen My AI on an older sibling's phone, the conversation is the one from Chapter 16: it is a very well-read robot that has never been to a park. It is not a person and it is not always right.

Ages 9 to 12. Still no account, and I know that in many Grade 6 classes that puts your child in a minority. Hold the line and give the reason: "It's built for teenagers, it keeps what you tell it, and we'll talk about it again at 13." Use these years to teach the stranger rule on whatever they do use, so it is already a habit when Snapchat arrives.

Ages 13 to 18. Family Center, My AI replies off for the younger teens, location checked, data cleared, the rule said out loud. Then the job shifts from settings to judgement, because a seventeen-year-old will have this app on a phone you never see. Run My AI's answers through the V.E.T. rule from Chapter 10 like anything else an AI says: Verify, Explain, Transform. And keep asking, lightly, "Is this helping you think, or thinking for you?"

The emergency conversation

Whatever else you do tonight, have this conversation, in a calm moment, before anything goes wrong. Chapter 18 gives the words and I use them almost exactly.

"I want you to know that if you ever see something online that upsets you, a picture, a video, a message, or if someone makes you uncomfortable, I'm always the right person to come to. I won't punish you. I won't take your phone away. I'll just help you deal with it. That's what I'm here for."

The reason it matters so much is that early disclosure is the variable that most determines how these situations turn out, and children who know they will not lose the phone are dramatically more likely to disclose early.

Questions parents ask

Is Snapchat My AI safe for kids?

Not for anyone under 13, because Snapchat itself is not. For teenagers it is roughly as safe as any chatbot, with two extra concerns: it sits among their friends so it invites confiding, and everything said to it is kept until deleted and may be used to personalise the app, including ads. Set up Family Center and teach the stranger rule.

Can I remove My AI from my child's Snapchat?

At the time of writing, whether My AI can be unpinned or removed from the chat list has depended on whether the account pays for Snapchat+, so check on your child's phone. What every parent can do, through Family Center, is turn off My AI's ability to respond to their teenager, and clear its data in the app's privacy settings.

Can parents see My AI chats on Snapchat?

No. Family Center shows who your teenager has chatted with in the past seven days, their friend list and their average daily time on the app, but not message content, and that includes My AI. What you can do is switch off My AI's replies, and ask your child to show you the chat themselves.

Does Snapchat My AI know my child's location?

Snap has said My AI can use a Snapchatter's location if location sharing is on. For teen accounts it is off by default, but check the Snap Map settings on your child's phone. My rule is simple: if location is shared with Snapchat, assume My AI can use it, and if you are not comfortable with that, turn it off.

Sources

• Chapter 18 of Raising AI-Ready Children on privacy and data risks, the three privacy rules, the "only what you'd show a stranger" rule and the emergency conversation.
• Chapter 10 on the Data Audit, privacy and data literacy, the V.E.T. checklist and monitoring without hovering.
• Common Sense Media, 2025, "Talk, Trust, and Trade-Offs: How and Why Teens Use AI Companions", as cited in Chapter 18.
• Snapchat support and privacy pages on My AI, Family Center and teen account defaults, checked on the date at the top of this post.