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Young people are telling AI bots like ChatGPT and Claude about child abuse more than their parents, teachers or police, new Adelaide University research finds.
About one student in every South Australian Year 12 classroom has experienced or knows someone who has experienced online sexual victimisation involving Artificial Intelligence, according to a new Adelaide University study.
This could include AI image generation or using AI to alter pictures young people have posted online through “nudify” apps, and the non-consensual sharing of these images.
Research from Adelaide University, released today, found AI is used in one in four cases of image-based child sexual abuse.
Adelaide University Associate Professor Tim Cubitt said this was an “underestimate” from cautious researchers.
It comes after a Mercedes College graduate in April became the first person in Australia to be charged under federal deepfake laws and pleaded guilty to creating and distributing explicit deepfake images.
The 19-year-old was the first Australian to be prosecuted under the federal offences created in 2024 to fight the creation of explicit images using AI deepfakes.
SA Police told InDaily it was “aware of Artificial Intelligence (AI) apps being used to generate unlawful fake child exploitation images in the community”.
“Police recommend all parents and guardians discuss online safety with their children. For information to assist with these discussions, police encourage parents to visit the ThinkUknow website,” a police spokesperson said.
Cubitt said the new research showed a “really seismic shift” in disclosure, as AI chatbots were not just being used to create exploitation material, but as a tool for young people seeking help.
Of the young people surveyed, 18.7 per cent said they disclosed their experience to an AI, compared to 13.2 per cent who told a teacher, doctor, councillor, police officer or helpline.
“That’s a really significant change, and it really means we have to adapt to it…that familiarity and preference to go to those platforms is really important,” Cubitt said.
“If you can imagine looking at your mobile phone under the age of 18, maybe you find out that you’ve been victimised potentially through image manipulation using AI.
“The quickest source of advice maybe is flick across to your ChatGPT app or flick across to Claude, and to say, ‘This just happened to me. What do I do? Right, so that pipeline is really important.”
The study surveyed about 1900 Australians aged 16 to 18 in early 2026, with researchers from Adelaide University, the Australian Federal Police’s Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation and the International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children Australia (ICMEC).
More than two-thirds of those surveyed asked an AI for personal life advice, with one in six young people under 18 saying they would seek personal or psychosocial help from an AI at least once per week.
Cubitt said that currently there was no legislative requirement for AI companies, like OpenAI which runs ChatGPT or Anthropic behind Claude, to redirect queries about child abuse.
“There’s an evolving conversation in Australia regarding the digital duty of care for online platforms,” Cubitt said.
“There is a real concern that they receive the right information, and I don’t think it’s quite enough to say, ‘here’s a phone number to call’ to acquit the responsibility of providing that to a young person.
“They’re seeking help, they’re seeking solace, and they’re seeking to disclose really harmful, hurtful personal experiences to these platforms.
“I think we all have a duty to make sure they get the right advice and find the right help.”
The scale of AI-use among young people will be top of the agenda for a national SaferAI for Children Coalition forum in Sydney on July 8 hosted by ICMEC, bringing together not-for-profits, education and child protection representatives.
Ahead of the event, Carly Ryan Foundation CEO Sonya Ryan said AI was a “national problem” outpacing the response from the child protection sector.
Ryan established the foundation in 2010 to fight online predators after Carly’s death in 2007. Carly was 15-years-old when she was abused and drowned at a Port Elliott beach by a 50-year-old who lured her there after presenting as an 18-year-old musician for 18-months.
“Our sector has watched AI reshape how children experience harm and how they reach out for help, and we cannot meet that shift working in silos,” Ryan said.
“It will take industry, government, law enforcement and the services children actually turn to moving together, at the same pace as the technology.”
If you or someone you know is impacted by child sexual abuse and online exploitation, there are support services available online at the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation.
SA Police said members of the public who have information about people involved in child abuse and exploitation are urged to contact Crime Stoppers online or via 1800 333 000, you can remain anonymous.
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