Cognitive offloading and AI emotional attachments. Are bots replacing the trusted adult?

The Department for Education (DfE) has strengthened the safeguarding content in its AI in education materials, developed in collaboration with the Chiltern Learning Trust and the Chartered College of Teaching. The materials are available on the UK Gov website, in their Using AI in education settings materials. The message for schools and colleges is clear: AI should now be treated as an active safeguarding risk.

 

The updated materials go beyond familiar concerns such as deepfakes, grooming via chatbots, and AI-generated sexual imagery. They also highlight risks schools may be less used to thinking about, including the safeguarding implications of “cognitive offloading” - where pupils become over-reliant on AI instead of developing their own knowledge, judgement, and skills. While this is often framed as an educational issue, it may also raise safeguarding concerns if pupils routinely turn to AI rather than trusted adults, or if important worries and disclosures are less likely to surface.

 

This links to a second theme in the materials: the risk of pupils forming unhealthy emotional attachments to chatbot-style tools. Some of these tools are deliberately designed to encourage interaction in ways that feel personal or emotionally responsive. The safeguarding concern is that AI may begin to displace trusted human support, with pupils turning to a bot rather than a member of staff when they are worried, vulnerable, or in need of help.

 

For schools and colleges, the key issue, particularly for vulnerable children, is awareness. Staff need to understand how these tools may shape behaviour, relationships and help-seeking. That means being alert to pupils becoming more withdrawn, overly dependent on AI tools, or unusually engaged with chatbot-style platforms. It also means making sure monitoring, welfare check-ins, and trusted adult relationships remain strong.

 

As the AI landscape continues to develop, safeguarding systems in schools and colleges must keep pace. A central part of that will be ensuring that staff are recognised by pupils as trusted, accessible, and responsive sources of support. Effective safeguarding will continue to depend on children turning to trusted adults, not bots, when they need help.