Many parents of babies, toddlers, and preschoolers love posting pictures of their kids. But how can sharenting in the age of AI impact young kids down the road? And how can parents of very young kids have age-appropriate conversations about social media? I'm looking for a child psychologist to weigh in via a brief phone interview or email Q&A.

Sharenting in the AI age can impact kids by creating lasting digital footprints that affect privacy and autonomy. Parents should avoid oversharing and start age-appropriate conversations early, using simple analogies about sharing and boundaries. Modeling respectful online behavior and involving children in decisions builds trust and digital literacy. The key is mindfulness—treating online sharing as intentional rather than automatic ensures children grow up with dignity and agency intact.

I'm not a psychologist, but as a newborn and baby photographer, I definitely have some suggestions regarding posting photos online in this AI era. I constantly try to duplicate the photos I take so I know AI works now and how to protect my client kids from being used through AI. But if that's not useful for your content, that's okay too. I've had more parents tell me not to share their kids' photos in my portfolio since the age of AI began. They're concerned about how their child's photo might be used by someone else with AI. The scariest thing that can happen is that you don't know what people will do with your kid's photo. Stopping posting your kids' photos online is definitely the safest way to prevent random people from stealing them. But in this age, having Facebook and Instagram is probably part of life already. My suggestions for posting kids' photos safely are: 1. Only post a limited number of your child's photos at a time, like 1-2 photos. AI needs enough data to train realistic results. Making sure there are only a few photos of your child available will not cause a huge problem , but you should delete older posts as time goes, so the photos don't accumulate into a large database. 2. Only post side profiles or partially front-facing photos. This makes it almost impossible for AI to duplicate a realistic image of your child. 3. Make sure your social media has limited access, so only people you trust can see the photos. That way, you don't have to worry as much about misuse. As a photographer, I always tell people: watermark your kids' faces before posting. Adding a small, not-too-obvious watermark or even a little sticker on your child's face can make it much harder for AI systems to use the photo for training. I always say, if someone wants to target your kids, they'll do whatever they can to find the data they need. But in reality, most photo thieves just steal images randomly from whoever gives the easiest access. So making your photos harder to steal will likely protect your kids from those random thieves.

Here are my thoughts on this important topic, framed as a Q&A: Q: How can sharenting in the age of AI impact young kids down the road? The primary risk of sharenting in the age of AI isn't just privacy; it's the theft of a child's right to build their own identity. When we post, we are feeding a permanent, public-facing digital profile of our child—a "digital twin"—built from our own hand-picked, filtered moments. AI systems can use this data to make inferences and build profiles that last forever. The harm comes later. As that child grows, they must compete with this public version of themselves. They lose the chance to have a "messy" phase, to make mistakes privately, or to define themselves on their own terms. They are tethered to a childhood narrative they didn't write and can't erase. Q: How can parents of very young kids have age-appropriate conversations about social media? You don't. You can't have a complex talk with a toddler about 'data,' but you absolutely can start modeling 'digital consent' from day one. The "conversation" at this age is about your actions, not your words. Start by narrating your choices. "I love this funny picture of you! I'd like to send it to Grandma. Is that okay with you?" Even before they can fully understand, you are building a habit of asking for permission. By age 3 or 4, this becomes a concrete lesson in autonomy. "This is your picture. It's part of your story. Should we share it with other people, or keep it just for us?" This practice frames privacy as a simple, understandable extension of bodily autonomy—the same way we teach them, "it's your body, and you decide who gets to give you a hug."