The Role of Artificial Intelligence on Child Parenting: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Artificial intelligence (AI) has become increasingly integrated into contemporary family life, reshaping the practices, expectations, and dynamics of modern parenting. Parents now utilise smart assistants, adaptive learning platforms, AI-powered monitoring systems, and socially interactive companion robots to support child supervision, academic engagement, and household organisation. This systematic review synthesises existing empirical and theoretical scholarship on the effects of AI-mediated tools on child parenting outcomes, examining their influence on children’s cognitive development, physical safety, family communication, and socio-emotional growth. Adhering to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, five major academic databases were searched using structured Boolean query strings. An initial pool of 71 records was identified and subsequently refined to 15 peer-reviewed studies published between 2013 and 2024. To provide analytical coherence, the review is grounded in four theoretical frameworks: the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), Socio-Technical Systems Theory, Attachment Theory, and Self-Determination Theory. The synthesised evidence reveals a complex, dualistic picture. AI tools demonstrably enhance personalised learning, mitigate parental safety anxieties, and streamline domestic routines. However, concurrent risks are identified, including increased screen exposure, data privacy vulnerabilities, erosion of parent-child emotional bonds, over-reliance on automated surveillance, and impediments to children’s developing autonomy. The review concludes that the efficacy of AI parenting tools is contingent upon intentional deployment, clearly defined usage boundaries, robust ethical oversight, and informed parental engagement rather than passive delegation to automated systems.