3 Things Parents Should Teach Their Kids About AI

It is almost a year since ChatGPT burst onto the scene, fuelling great excitement as well as concern about what it might mean for education.

- KATHY MILLS & CHRISTIAN MORO

The changes keep coming. Earlier in the year, MyAI was embedded into social media platform Snapchat. This is a chatbot powered by ChatGPT, which encourages teens to ask anything — from gift suggestions for friends to questions about homework.

Meanwhile, Microsoft is rolling out ‘Copilot’ on its systems, billed as an “everyday AI companion”. This follows the introduction of ‘Bing Chat’, an AI-enhanced assistant to accompany the Bing search tool.

All of a sudden, generative artificial intelligence — which can create new content such as text and images has become accessible to everyone, including children.

We are researchers with a background in digital technology and are highly enthusiastic about the potential for AI. However, there are risks as well as benefits. Here are three things parents can keep in mind as they navigate AI technology with their kids.

AI IS HERE TO STAY

Artificial intelligence itself is not new — chatbots and generative AI have been around since the 1960s.

But over the past year there has been a rapid expansion in the size of AI databases, huge financial investments into these technologies, more innovative code, and enhanced accessibility and usability.

Parents are naturally hesitant about AI. Many schools have considered banning some AI use, amid claims it would lead to cheating and undermine academic integrity.