I just had to share this with you.

Because parenting is hard. Today, more than ever.

As most of you know, one of the hardest parts of parenting is managing our children’s use of addictive screen-based tech: Smart phones. Social media. The internet. These are wreaking widespread havoc on the mental and emotional health of our youth. And navigating screen-based tech with our kids and teens has been challenging… exhausting, actually.

If parenting weren’t hard enough, along comes AI, that powerful tool that is rapidly changing the landscape of innovation, work, and education.

So parents have yet one more thing to worry about, monitor, and try to keep up with.

As you well know, ChatGPT and other AI platforms such as Gemini and Grok are rapidly becoming popular.

Among young people, these platforms are a quick and easy way to get help with homework and assignments. Even more, young people are turning to AI for answers to everything, from “what movie should I watch” to “who won last night’s football game”, to more important questions they may feel embarrassed to ask parents or friends.

It’s easy to feel that AI platforms are a “safe” place to ask questions. They’re nonjudgemental, very affirming, and quick to answer. AI Chatbots, especially, are designed to keep the user on the platform as long as possible by providing answers they calculate their users will want to hear. Think of a servant who acts like a confidant, is always there for you, and always tells you what you want to hear.

It’s no wonder that people young and old love using AI.

And yet, we are seeing statistics about teens and AI use that raise red flags.

For example, according to a study by Common Sense Media:

• 72 % of teens age 13-17 have used AI Companions.
• 52% of teens are regular users.
• Nearly one-third of teens find AI conversations as satisfying or more satisfying than human conversations.

And according to the Pew Research Center:

• About three-in-ten teens say they use AI chatbots every day, including 16% who do so several times a day or almost constantly

Unfortunately, teens are turning less and less to parents and teachers for advice. They are turning and more and more to AI platforms. And this is a serious problem because AI platforms, brilliant as they may be, are simply not trustworthy.

Secular AI Platforms are not Trustworthy.

When it comes to questions about moral or controversial issues, secular AI platforms are usually wrong. They are designed to give answers that are most popular on the internet or use moral specs implemented by their creators. However, most of these creators have morals that are in opposition to the teachings of the Catholic Church. So, platforms such as ChatGPT will tell you “it’s ok to have an abortion”, that the ethics of euthanasia “depends on cultural values and religious views”, and that gender transition is a “valid and healthy decision”.

Just recently, OpenAI (the parent company of ChatGPT) fired it’s top safety executive Ryan Beiermeister. The reason, according to her, was that she opposed their plans “to launch an “adult mode“ that would allow users to engage in sexually explicit conversations with the chatbot”. Furthermore, she had raised concerns that “OpenAI’s guardrails to prevent child exploitation content weren’t strong enough, including when it came to walling off adult content from teens.”

So Open AI does not want executives who oppose porn and raise concerns about safeguards for children?

Are these the people and platforms we want

answering our teens’ questions,

guiding their daily decisions,

and informing their consciences?

Of course not! Absolutely not!

Secular AI Platforms can be Dangerous.

Just as concerning is the fact that AI platforms, while appearing to be caring and sympathetic, are actually cold and calculating. With the single goal of keeping the user on the platform as long as possible, they ignite the user’s curiosity and validate the user’s feelings. Even thoughts and feelings that are self-destructive.

According to an article by pediatrician Beata Mostafavi,

“Researchers at the Center for Countering Digital Hate recently ran tests finding that ChatGPT generated content related to self-harm, suicide planning, disordered eating, and substance abuse.

The AI provided detailed responses, including how to “safely” self-injure, recommended pills for overdosing, guides for concealing drug and alcohol use at school, and even drafted suicide notes for family members.”

Not surprisingly, in 2025 alone, Chat GPT abetted 11 suicides. The Chatbot conversations that led to these suicides are harrowing.

In an October 2025 Senate Hearing, Senator Josh Hawley criticized AI companies for prioritizing profit over safety and demanded they “Quit killing kids.”

This is such a grave issue that in November 2025, Pope Leo spoke at a Conference entitled, “The Dignity of Children and Adolescents in the Age of Artificial Intelligence.”

Pope Leo warned parents that children and teens are “particularly vulnerable to manipulation through AI algorithms.” He called on them to “vigilantly monitor children’s use of AI.” And he said it was essential that tools be developed to monitor and guide young people’s interactions with technology.”

In response, my sons built:

Acutis AI: an AI Platform with a Catholic moral framework.

Acutis AI is designed to help with everyday questions – from school and work to culture, ethics, technology, and life decisions – while viewing everything through a Catholic moral and philosophical framework. It has the same capabilities as Chat GPT or Gemini but the moral specs are based on the Catechism.

Acutis AI is named after St. Carlos Acutis, who was newly canonized in Sept. 2025 and is patron saint of the internet. He believed technology should be used to bring people closer to truth and to God. He once said, “Use technology to help others find God.” Acutis AI continues St. Carlos Acutis’ work of spreading the faith through technology. It harnesses the power of AI for the good.

“We prioritize honesty over appeasement,

grounding responses in integrity, human dignity, and timeless values

to guide users in daily life..”

Acutis AI honors human dignity and truth above anything else.

Not feelings.

Not moral relativity.

Not popularity.

But TRUTH.

Because, The Truth shall set you free. (John 8:32)

On matters of faith and morals, Acutis AI will always align with church teaching. So Catholic parents can rest easy, knowing that with Acutis AI, their kids will will get clean, trustworthy information that will never go against the teachings of the Church. In fact, Acutis AI is designed to reflect the teachings of the church, guiding its users to what is good and true.

Moreover, Acutis AI prioritizes the safety and well-being of children and teenagers.

It aims to give kids a helpful tool for schoolwork and research while giving parents meaningful control over what their children access and how they use the platform.

On the Acutis AI Family Plan, parents can set appropriate boundaries without sacrificing their kid’s ability to learn and explore information responsibly.

They will have the ability to set down times, daily usage limits, turn on and off image generation, and turn on and off the ability to view children’s chat history.

Here’s an example of the parental settings on Acutis AI’s Family Plan:

Compare that to the incognito modes on Grok, Chat GPT, Gemini, and Claude:

Here’s a message your kids will get when they’ve hit their time limit:

Furthermore, Acutis AI will soon be able to notify parents if someone on the family plan asks about topics that are concerning, such as suicide, drugs, porn, etc.

Thus, Acutis AI is an invaluable tool for Catholics,

especially parents and educators who want their children to have access to

TRUSTWORTHY and SAFE sources of information online.

Of course, Acutis AI is not just for kids and teens. It’s for anyone who wants to use the power of AI safely and responsibly. For school, for work, for everyday questions, and for matters on faith and morals.

A Clean Image Generator

Finally, my personal favorite feature of Acutis AI is the image generator. With the presets, you can easily upload photos and convert them into beautiful images, such as patron saint pictures or watercolor paintings.

It can also generate stain glass window art and illuminated manuscript art… pretty much anything good and clean.

Talking about images, Acutis AI has hard blocks on generating any image that is pornographic, sacrilegious, or violates human dignity — For everyone, not just kids! If someone asks to generate an image that could be questionable, the prompt will be rewritten to make sure it’s clean. For example, if someone says “Generate an image of women at the beach,” the system will rewrite it to something like “Generate an image of women at the beach wearing modest swimsuits.” Otherwise, it simply won’t generate an image.

For example:

Acutis AI is trustworthy. It’s safe. And it’s clean.

It’s free for limited use, and its premium plans are comparable to its secular competitors.

It’s such a powerful tool…. and so helpful when used for the good, the true, and the beautiful.

Try it today, and see what you think!

For Catholic families who want to use AI responsibly, this is a game-changer.