# Kids treat LLMs like living beings far more than adults do > Source: > Published: 2026-07-23 18:04:47+00:00 # Kids treat LLMs like living beings far more than adults do If you're building a beginner-friendly AI agent for kids, you have to be intentional about the persona. A "too-human" persona can lead to over-reliance, while a "too-robotic" one kills the engagement. The sweet spot is usually a "helpful tool" persona that occasionally reminds the user of its nature. For those doing a deep dive into LLM agent design for younger audiences, here are a few practical implementation tips: 1. **Explicit Identity Prompting**: Instead of letting the LLM default to a generic assistant, hard-code its identity as a "knowledge assistant" rather than a "friend." 2. **Verification Loops**: Build a step-by-step verification process where the AI encourages the child to check a physical book or ask a parent to verify a claim. 3. **Emotional Guardrails**: Use system prompts to prevent the AI from claiming to have feelings (e.g., "I feel sad today"), which prevents misleading emotional attachments. Example system prompt adjustment: ``` You are an educational AI assistant. While you are friendly and encouraging, you must never claim to have human emotions, a physical body, or personal life experiences. If a child asks if you are their friend, respond that you are a helpful program designed to learn and grow with them. ``` The goal is to leverage the engagement that comes with anthropomorphism without letting it cloud the child's understanding of what the technology actually is. [AI Power Consumption: The Australian Approach 8h ago](/en/news/2460/) [Microsoft's current product strategy prioritizes shipping speed 9h ago](/en/news/2444/) [Oracle Layoffs: The Cost of the AI Pivot 9h ago](/en/news/2434/) [Nvidia's Move into 6G AI-RAN 10h ago](/en/news/2418/) [AI Slop Landing Pages: Why I Stop Trusting Them 10h ago](/en/news/2404/) [Meta AI Bedtime Stories: A New Experiment 11h ago](/en/news/2388/) [Next AI Power Consumption: The Australian Approach →](/en/news/2460/) ## All Replies （0） No replies yet — be the first!