LONDON: Children are increasingly mentioning artificial intelligence (AI) in their stories, research has found.
Mentions of AI increased 50% from the year before in more than 46,500 stories children aged five to 11 submitted to a competition in 2025.
Analysis by Oxford University Press of stories submitted to the BBC 500 Words competition found children are increasingly personifying AI, and also are starting to express concerns about spending too much time on phones.
The terms "doomscrolling” appeared for the first time in stories submitted to the competition, analysis found, and references to "brainrot” jumped from one last year to 210 in 2025.
It comes as government around the world are considering bans on social media for teens.
ChatGPT appeared as a character or a narrator in several stories, Oxford University Press found, and some stories included themes like AI versus humans.
Mentions of libraries in stories submitted to the competition have increased by more than 100% over the past decade, while references to books increased by 25% since 2015.
However, references to Kindles have fallen by more than 70% over the past decade.
Sarah Hannafin, head of policy at school leaders’ union NAHT, said: "While these findings suggest some children have real self-awareness and insight about some of the risks as well as benefits of AI and phone use, they also underline the importance of pupils, teachers and families receiving support to help ensure safe and appropriate use of digital technology.
"It is absolutely vital that children develop critical thinking – to be questioning and able to identify good and bad sources of information – and to understand the risks of harmful content and the importance of data privacy.”
All the stories submitted to the competition are added to a database of children’s written language, and analysed by experts.
Mentions of football fell for the first time in five years, researchers found, while mentions of rugby have increased by 50% since 2024.
Children were also likely to mention popular toys like Lego, TV shows such as The Traitors, and characters like Cinderella and Snow White.
Additionally, the Labubu toy was mentioned for the first time in stories in 2025.
Andrea Quincey, director of early years and primary publishing for Oxford University Press, said the research is integral to understanding how children use language and reflect on the world around them.
Increasing concerns have been raised about the impact of technology – particularly smartphones and social media – on children.
A recent survey by the UK Safer Internet Centre and Nominet found nearly all young people between eight and 17 surveyed said they were using AI. However, 35% said they believe it has made them less creative. – dpa
