Read the whole piece — “amplify shortcuts vs amplify learning” is the line I can’t stop thinking about. What strikes me in your data: the same tool is a crutch or a tutor depending on one move the kid makes — asking it for the answer vs asking it to make them produce the answer. “Write my essay” vs “quiz me, one question at a time, and correct me.” The strugglers default to the answer because that’s what kills the immediate pain. So alongside better-designed tools, I keep wondering if the highest-leverage move is teaching that one reframe early — vending machine into tutor — especially when only 56% have talked to an adult about any of it. Do you think kids can be taught that reframe directly, or does it only stick when the tool itself nudges them there?
Great post, please post about that AI literacy toolkit for families. I don’t think parents know exactly what to do about all this. As I watch my 38 year old daughter, a PICU NP, deal with the excessive IPad use of her two kids, 9 and 5, I cringe to think about how she will deal with AI when they get there.
Great round-up of the emerging trends! The issue of vulnerability is such an important one. Kids might be susceptible in ways we might not consider. One survey study, for example, showed that youth who became emotionally dependent on AI tended to be social and well-liked but felt chronically unseen by people and unable to express their true selves. https://www.therithmproject.org/research
My 15 yo son could have been one of the kids who completed this survey. (I do you gov surveys for money and they constantly want kids opinions on things. I rarely allow them to complete these, but the day school got out, my oldest thought it would be fun to do a few.)
I know he has used chat gpt sometimes. It's not blocked on their school Chromebooks, which I found surprising. But he also knows or says he knows that he can't use it for school assignments unless they are explicitly told to do so. As far as I know he hasn't, but...🤷🏼♀️ Their charter school is pretty harsh on inappropriate use of tech.
He's also not the type of kid to go to AI for info about health or mental issues, which I personally think is a positive.
He's more the kid who would use it to make funny/sarcastic pictures to show his friends.
My younger 2 kids have not used chat gpt or other AI as of yet. (We had a discussion about it that day.) All 3 are somewhat aware of the pitfalls of AI and how incorrect it can be about general info.
In general, I think they are doing ok with use of AI, but I KNOW the pull to use it to make their lives easier, mostly for homework they don't want to do, will just get stronger. Their school is reevaluating AI use, discussions, how to teach use of it (or not!) every year. I'm not sure we can do more than that at the moment.
Please read my story and what AI did https://myob371.substack.com/p/my-journey-with-ai?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=770tqq
Read the whole piece — “amplify shortcuts vs amplify learning” is the line I can’t stop thinking about. What strikes me in your data: the same tool is a crutch or a tutor depending on one move the kid makes — asking it for the answer vs asking it to make them produce the answer. “Write my essay” vs “quiz me, one question at a time, and correct me.” The strugglers default to the answer because that’s what kills the immediate pain. So alongside better-designed tools, I keep wondering if the highest-leverage move is teaching that one reframe early — vending machine into tutor — especially when only 56% have talked to an adult about any of it. Do you think kids can be taught that reframe directly, or does it only stick when the tool itself nudges them there?
Great post, please post about that AI literacy toolkit for families. I don’t think parents know exactly what to do about all this. As I watch my 38 year old daughter, a PICU NP, deal with the excessive IPad use of her two kids, 9 and 5, I cringe to think about how she will deal with AI when they get there.
Great round-up of the emerging trends! The issue of vulnerability is such an important one. Kids might be susceptible in ways we might not consider. One survey study, for example, showed that youth who became emotionally dependent on AI tended to be social and well-liked but felt chronically unseen by people and unable to express their true selves. https://www.therithmproject.org/research
My 15 yo son could have been one of the kids who completed this survey. (I do you gov surveys for money and they constantly want kids opinions on things. I rarely allow them to complete these, but the day school got out, my oldest thought it would be fun to do a few.)
I know he has used chat gpt sometimes. It's not blocked on their school Chromebooks, which I found surprising. But he also knows or says he knows that he can't use it for school assignments unless they are explicitly told to do so. As far as I know he hasn't, but...🤷🏼♀️ Their charter school is pretty harsh on inappropriate use of tech.
He's also not the type of kid to go to AI for info about health or mental issues, which I personally think is a positive.
He's more the kid who would use it to make funny/sarcastic pictures to show his friends.
My younger 2 kids have not used chat gpt or other AI as of yet. (We had a discussion about it that day.) All 3 are somewhat aware of the pitfalls of AI and how incorrect it can be about general info.
In general, I think they are doing ok with use of AI, but I KNOW the pull to use it to make their lives easier, mostly for homework they don't want to do, will just get stronger. Their school is reevaluating AI use, discussions, how to teach use of it (or not!) every year. I'm not sure we can do more than that at the moment.