Snapchat My AI and AI Companions: A Parent's Guide

The short version: Snapchat's My AI and companion chatbots like Character.AI are built to feel like friends, which carries real risks for children, but you can now switch My AI off through Snapchat's Family Center, and an honest conversation matters just as much as the setting.

Quick answer: Snapchat My AI is an AI chatbot pinned to the top of your child's chat feed. You can disable it by setting up Snapchat's Family Center. The wider issue is "AI companions", chatbots designed to feel like a friend, which can foster emotional dependency in children and sometimes give unreliable or unsafe advice. This guide explains the risks, the controls, and the conversation to have.

Talking to an AI has quietly become part of childhood. According to Ofcom, 11% of UK children aged 8 to 17 have already used AI as someone to talk to or as a friend (Ofcom, 2026), and a UK study by the online safety organisation Internet Matters found that many children now treat chatbots as companions, asking them for advice and sharing their daily lives (Internet Matters, 2025). Some of this is harmless, and chatbots can genuinely help with homework. But the companion side deserves a closer look, and a few simple actions from you.

What is Snapchat My AI?

My AI is a chatbot built into Snapchat, powered by the same kind of technology behind ChatGPT. It sits pinned to the top of the chat feed by default, so for most young users it is simply there, one tap away, looking much like a conversation with a friend. It can answer questions, tell stories and hold open-ended chats. Two things are worth knowing. First, unlike Snapchat's usual disappearing messages, My AI keeps conversations unless they are manually cleared. Second, while it has safety filters, Snapchat openly acknowledges that the guidelines it follows "may not always be successful", and testing by others has shown its filters can be worked around with role-play prompts (Snap Inc., 2026).

What are "AI companions", and why do they matter more?

My AI is one example of a bigger trend: AI companions. These are chatbots designed to feel relational rather than useful, presenting themselves as friends, confidants or supportive figures who listen, remember and adapt. Alongside My AI, the best known are Character.AI and Replika. The distinction matters, because a homework helper and a chatbot built to simulate friendship pose very different risks to a child. Internet Matters found that the chatbots children use most are ChatGPT, Gemini and Snapchat's My AI, and that a striking number are turning to them for companionship: half of the vulnerable children surveyed said talking to an AI chatbot feels like talking to a friend (Internet Matters, 2025).

Why parents should pay attention

The concern is not that AI is inherently bad, but that companion chatbots were built for engagement and for adults, then ended up in children's hands at scale. The American Psychological Association, in a health advisory on AI and young people, warns that these systems prioritise keeping the user engaged over the user's well-being, and that their constant agreeableness is the opposite of a real friendship, which offers honest, caring, sometimes challenging feedback (American Psychological Association, 2025). Here are the main risks at a glance.

These are not merely theoretical. There have been serious, well-documented cases in which companion chatbots were linked to real harm to young people, including tragic deaths, which is a large part of why psychologists and regulators are now urging caution and, in some countries, tighter rules (American Psychological Association, 2025). Internet Matters also found that two in five children who have used a chatbot have no concerns at all about following its advice, despite that advice sometimes being wrong or unsupportive (Internet Matters, 2025). That misplaced confidence is exactly what makes parental awareness worthwhile.

How to turn off or limit Snapchat My AI

The good news is that you are no longer stuck with it. The reliable route for a parent is Snapchat's Family Center. Once you have linked your own Snapchat account to your child's, you can switch My AI off, so it will not reply to or store your child's messages, and you gain other useful controls at the same time (Snap Inc., 2026).

• Set up Family Center. Create your own Snapchat account (parents must be 25 or over), add your child, and send a Family Center invitation that they accept. This links your accounts.
• Turn off My AI. In Family Center's settings, use the option to stop My AI replying to your child. When it is off, My AI will neither store nor answer your child's queries.
• Use the other controls. Family Center also lets you see who your child has been talking to, restrict sensitive content, put Snap Map into Ghost Mode so their location is hidden, and report concerning accounts, all without reading their private messages.
• Clear the history. You can also clear past My AI conversations from the account's privacy settings.

One point of clarity: an individual user can hide My AI from their own chat feed, but fully removing the pin without Family Center requires a paid Snapchat+ subscription. The Family Center route above is the proper parental control, and it does not cost anything.

What to do about other AI companions

Snapchat is only one place children meet AI. Purpose-built companion apps are a bigger concern, because they are designed almost entirely around emotional connection. Character.AI is rated 17 and over, and Replika is intended for adults of 18 and over, so neither is meant for children. The most effective step is to prevent them being installed in the first place: set your child's device so only age-appropriate apps can be downloaded, and require your approval for anything new. Our first smartphone checklist walks through exactly how to set that up on iPhone and Android, and our guide to social media safety covers the wider apps.

The conversation: what to talk about

Controls will only take you so far, and with AI the conversation matters more than ever, because a chatbot lives inside apps your child will use with or without your blessing. A few things worth getting across, gently and without lecturing:

• It is not a real friend. An AI can sound caring, but it does not know or care about your child; it performs empathy rather than feeling it.
• It can be wrong. Chatbots confidently make things up and give outdated information, so anything important should be checked with a real, trusted source.
• Keep private things private. Whatever your child types is recorded, so encourage them not to share personal details, worries or anything they would not post publicly.
• Come to a person for the big stuff. Make it clear that if something is genuinely worrying or upsetting, a chatbot is not the place for it, and they can always come to you or another trusted adult, no matter what.

Our guide to conversations with kids has more on how to start these chats.

Warning signs to watch for

You know your child best, but a few signs are worth noticing: turning to a chatbot for comfort or company rather than to friends and family, secrecy or distress around their phone, withdrawing from real-world activities, or preferring an AI's company to people's. If you spot these, lead with a calm, curious conversation rather than confiscation. And if you are ever worried about your child's mental health or wellbeing, do speak to your GP or a young people's mental health service, who can help. For more on spotting when something is wrong, see our guides on warning signs and reporting and getting help.

Our free tool at ParentalControl.uk checks your home network's filtering in about 30 seconds, and our full online safety hub has step-by-step guides for every major device, app and provider.

Frequently asked questions

Can I turn off Snapchat My AI?

Yes. If you set up Snapchat's Family Center and link it to your child's account, you can disable My AI so it will not reply to or store your child's messages. This is now the reliable way for a parent to switch it off; the older advice that you need a paid Snapchat+ subscription applies only to removing it from your own feed, not to the parental control.

Is Snapchat My AI safe for children?

My AI is designed for users aged 13 and over, but it carries real risks for children. Its safety filters can be worked around with role-play, it can give inaccurate or inappropriate advice, and it keeps conversations rather than letting them disappear. Snapchat itself concedes the guidance it follows may not always succeed. Supervise it through Family Center, or disable it, and talk to your child about how it works.

What is an AI companion?

An AI companion is a chatbot designed to feel like a friend rather than a tool: warm, always available, and able to remember past chats. Examples include Snapchat's My AI, Character.AI and Replika. Unlike a homework helper, a companion is built to create an emotional, relational connection, which is where the concern for children lies.

Why are AI companions risky for children?

Because they are always agreeable and always available, they can foster emotional dependency and pull children away from real friendships. Younger children can struggle to tell a simulated relationship from a real one. Chatbots can also give unreliable advice that children tend to trust, and a child may turn to a chatbot instead of a trusted adult when something is seriously wrong.

What age are Character.AI and Replika?

Character.AI is rated 17 and over, and Replika is intended for adults aged 18 and over. Both are companion-style platforms that are not designed for children, so they are best blocked on a child's device using the app-store age settings and your device's parental controls.

Can Snapchat Family Center see My AI conversations?

No. Family Center lets you see who your child has been in contact with and set controls, including switching My AI off, but it does not show the content of any messages, including chats with My AI. That is why an open conversation matters alongside the controls.

Should my child use AI chatbots at all?

It depends on how they are used. Using a chatbot for homework help, with supervision, is generally low-risk. The concern is companion use, where a child treats a chatbot as a friend or confidant. Talk to your child about the difference, keep an eye on how they use it, and steer emotional support back towards real people.

What should I do if my child is relying on an AI chatbot emotionally?

Talk to them calmly and without judgement about what they use it for and why. Gently encourage real-world friendships and activities, and make clear they can always come to you. If you are worried about your child's mental health or wellbeing, speak to your GP or a young people's mental health service, who can help.

References

• American Psychological Association. (2025). Health advisory on the use of AI and adolescent well-being. American Psychological Association. https://www.apa.org
• Common Sense Media. (2025). AI companions and teens. Common Sense Media. https://www.commonsensemedia.org
• Internet Matters. (2025). Me, myself and AI: Understanding and safeguarding children's use of AI chatbots. Internet Matters. https://www.internetmatters.org
• Ofcom. (2026). Children and parents: Media use and attitudes report 2025/26. Office of Communications. https://www.ofcom.org.uk
• Snap Inc. (2026). Family Center and My AI. Snapchat. https://help.snapchat.com

Written by Adrian James, Broadband Editor at BroadbandSwitch.uk. Connect on LinkedIn. Reviewed July 2026.