How to set up ChatGPT or Claude for an older parent

Pick whichever tool you use yourself, stay on the free plan, and set the account up in your parent’s own name and email, not yours. Then switch two settings, make the text bigger, try three easy things together and have a five-minute safety chat. The whole job takes about half an hour.

Which tool, and do they need to pay?

ChatGPT and Claude are both good choices for a beginner. The honest tie-breaker is this: choose the one you already use. When your parent rings to ask “where’s the button gone?”, you’ll know the answer.

The free plan of either is plenty to start with. Free plans have daily limits, but a new user asking a few questions a day rarely reaches them. Our guide Do I need to pay for AI? covers when an upgrade is worth it.

Download the app from the official app store and check the developer: OpenAI for ChatGPT, Anthropic for Claude. There are lookalike apps.

Use their name and their email

It’s tempting to sign them up with your own email “to keep it simple”. Don’t.

• The chats, the settings and any future bill are theirs, so the account should be too.
• They can sign in without you if they get a new phone.
• Your own chats stay separate from theirs.

Make sure they know the password, or that it’s saved somewhere they can find it. If the tool sends a code to their email or phone during sign-up, let them type it in themselves.

Two settings to switch

Open Settings in the app. Menus move around, so look for these words rather than an exact path.

1. Training. Both tools let you choose whether chats can be used to improve future versions. In ChatGPT, look under Data controls. In Claude, look under Privacy. Many people switch this off. It doesn’t change how well the tool works.
2. Two-step verification. This asks for a second check when signing in on a new device. Turn it on for the AI account, or for the email account they sign in with.

Our setup guides for ChatGPT and Claude walk through the rest.

Bigger text and talking instead of typing

Bigger text. The simplest fix is in the phone or tablet’s own settings, not the app. Look for text size under display or accessibility settings. On a computer, zoom the web page in the browser.

Voice. Both tools have a voice mode in their phone apps, and both include it on the free plan, with limits. Your parent speaks, the AI answers out loud. For anyone who finds a small keyboard fiddly, this can make the whole thing click. They can also tap the microphone on the phone’s keyboard to dictate a typed question.

Three first things to try together

Pick things your parent actually cares about. These three work well.

1. Ask about a hobby. “I’ve got a shady, north-facing border. What will grow there?” It shows that you just talk to it normally.
2. Write something they’ve been putting off. A letter to the council, a thank-you note, a complaint about a late parcel. Then ask it to make the draft shorter or friendlier.
3. Explain something confusing. A letter full of jargon, or a setting on the telly. Leave out names, addresses and account numbers.

Show them the most useful habit of all: reply and ask for changes. “Simpler, please.” “I don’t understand the second bit.” Nobody gets it right first go. There are more ideas in 25 everyday things to ask AI.

The safety talk (five minutes)

Keep it calm. Three points are enough.

1. Some things never go in. Passwords, PINs, one-time codes, card and bank details, National Insurance number. Our list of what not to type into AI has the rest.

2. It can be wrong. AI sometimes states things confidently that aren’t true. For anything about health, money or the law, it’s a starting point. Check with the GP, the pharmacist, GOV.UK or Citizens Advice.

3. It will never ring you. Neither ChatGPT nor Claude will phone, text or email asking for money or a code. Anyone who does is a scammer. This is also a good moment to agree a family password for phone calls. Our guide to AI voice-clone scams explains how.

Doing it remotely over a phone call

You don’t need to be in the room. You need patience and a plan.

• Use two devices. Ring them on the landline, or on a different device from the one being set up. They need their hands and screen free.
• Open the same app yourself. Then you can say “tap the blue button at the bottom” and mean it.
• They do the tapping. It’s slower, but they learn where things are.
• Never ask them to read out a code or password. Not even to you. If they get used to reading codes down the phone to a familiar voice, a scammer can use that habit. Say “type it in yourself, I’ll wait.”
• One job per call. Account today, settings and first questions tomorrow.
• Finish with a win. End every call with them asking it one real question on their own.

Afterwards, post or text them a short note: the name of the app, what it’s for, and “ring me if it asks for money”.

Next step

Print our free AI Setup Checklist and work down it together. It covers every setting in this guide, with boxes to tick. See? Dead easy.