Starting next year Instagram will let parents stop teens from chatting with AI characters entirely.

Meta’s latest update gives users warnings for risky messages, screen-sharing with strangers, and offers AI assistance to stay safe on WhatsApp, Messenger, and Instagram.

Research shows that although most young people have positive interactions with AI chatbots, some may experience problematic behaviors or negative outcomes.

Social media giant Meta said Friday its unrolling new parental features for teen interactions with AI characters on its digital platforms.

Meta is also planning to bring the option for parents to block specific AI characters that their teenager has access to. This would serve as an alternative to disabling the feature completely. Lastly, Meta plans to give parents better insight into the conversations their teens are having with AI characters and the company's AI assistant.