How to Talk to Kids About AI Without Sounding Like You're Policing Them

Transcript

"Are you using ChatGPT for your homework?" is a pretty good way to end a conversation about AI.

It sounds like a trap. There's a right answer, and they know exactly what it is.

Try "show me" instead. Show me what you use it for. Then let them drive. They type, you sit next to them, and you keep your hands off the keyboard.

When it says something wrong, don't jump in. Ask a question and let them find it. "How would you know if that's right?" gets you a lot further than "See? That's why you can't trust it."

And you don't have to be the expert. If they know the app better than you do, great. You don't need to know the tool. You just need the questions. How does this actually work? And who wants what from me?

This matters, because kids have somewhere else to talk. In one survey, more than a third of high schoolers said it's easier to talk to AI than to their parents. You want to be the easier one.