Safety & guardrails

Is an AI English tutor safe for my child?

ThinkOtter is designed as a bounded AI tutor for guided PSLE English comprehension practice. It is not an open chatbot: your child works from a passage, answers comprehension questions, and gets hints that point back to the text. The parent owns the account, and the report lets you inspect attempts, evidence gaps, and question-type patterns after the session.

By design

What guardrails does ThinkOtter use?

The tutor is built for one job and kept inside clear lines.

✅ What the tutor does
  • Asks comprehension questions about the passage.
  • Gives hints that point back to specific lines.
  • Explains what a partial answer is missing.
  • Helps parents see strengths and gaps in the report.
🚫 What the tutor does not do
  • Act as an open chatbot on other topics.
  • Show your child the model answer during the attempt. The model answer is for the parent report.
  • Promise marks or replace a teacher's judgement.
  • Run ads, or sell anything to your child.
When things go off track

What happens when my child is stuck, unsure, or off-task?

ThinkOtter does not reward off-task answers or turn the session into open chat. If a child is playful, stuck, or gives a partial answer, the tutor redirects them to the passage, the line reference, and what the question needs.

Example based on an anonymised session
hi otter!
Let's stay focused, you're doing well. Look back at the first paragraph and find the word the question is asking for.

Off-task message, calm redirect to the passage. No shaming.

Example based on an anonymised session
I don't know
That's okay. This question asks for one word from lines 1 to 7. Look for a word that means a special yearly custom.

"I don't know", broken into a smaller, evidence-seeking step.

Example based on an anonymised session
They had little food.
You're on the right track, but that repeats the question. It asks how we know. What did the grandfather say his mother did before meals?

Partial answer, tutor asks for the missing evidence.

You stay in the loop

What you can see as a parent

Trust is not only safety, it is being able to check. After every session you can inspect what happened.

Attempts and resultsHow many questions, what your child tried, and where hints were needed.
Model answer and evidenceYou see the model answer and the evidence the tutor checked against.
Question types to practiseWhich of the comprehension question types need more work next.
See a sample parent report
Being straight with you

What this does not mean

  • It is not an AI babysitterIt is a practice tool for one subject, not supervision for your child.
  • Not a replacement for a teacher or parentHuman judgement still matters. ThinkOtter supports practice between lessons.
  • No promised marksIt helps your child build skills. No tool can guarantee a grade.
  • A guided tool you can inspectBounded to comprehension practice, and parent-visible in every report.

Your child's answers and privacy

Your child's answers are not sold, and never used to train AI models. They power your child's own session and the parent report, and nothing more. A parent owns the account. See how ThinkOtter protects children's data.

Safety questions

Safety, answered

No. ThinkOtter is a bounded tutor for guided PSLE comprehension practice. Your child works from a passage, answers comprehension questions, and gets hints that point back to the text. It does not hold open-ended conversations on other topics.
No. Your child is not shown the model answer during the attempt. The tutor guides with up to four levels of hints until your child finds the answer themselves. The model answer is for the parent report. See how ThinkOtter marks open-ended answers.
The tutor reassures your child and breaks the question into a smaller, evidence-seeking step, pointing them to the relevant lines. It does not give up and it does not hand over the answer.
The tutor calmly redirects your child back to the passage and the question, without shaming them. It does not reward off-task messages or turn the session into open chat.
No. Your child's answers are not used to train AI models. They power your child's own session and the parent report, and nothing more. Your child's data is never sold. See how ThinkOtter protects children's data.
Yes. After each session, the parent report shows attempts, the model answer and evidence, and which question types need practice. The parent owns the account and can inspect the report afterward. See a sample parent report.

The best way to judge it is to watch it.

Try one guided session and see how ThinkOtter responds when your child is stuck, unsure, or just being playful.

Try one guided session and see how ThinkOtter responds
No credit card · No ads · Built for Singapore's PSLE