Artificial intelligence (AI) is one of the biggest technological developments of the past 20 years, with AI being increasingly integrated into our daily activities from online shopping to gardening.
Our data showed that children as young as 7 are already experimenting with generative AI, so there’s a chance your child might know more about it than you! As with much of the online world, there are risks involved with generative AI, but they can be reduced by introducing kids to its capabilities in mindful, yet fun, ways.
What is generative AI?
Generative AI is just one type of artificial intelligence, but thanks to the launch of ChatGPT at the end of 2022, it’s arguably the one that’s gained the most attention. ChatGPT and other generative AI models can create new content, such as text, images, audio, or code, based on patterns and data it has been trained on. Unlike traditional AI, which follows set rules or analyzes existing data, generative AI can produce original content that resembles human creativity. For example, if given a prompt, a generative tool can write a continuation of a sentence or create an image based on a given theme.
The AI’s output is based on learned patterns, so it doesn’t truly understand the content like a human, which means it can sometimes produce mistakes or biased information.
There are many ways school children can use generative AI in their academic life and beyond, including answering questions and carrying out research, outlining essays, explaining difficult concepts, designing study plans, and generating practice questions in preparation for exams.
AI for kids: What are the risks?
Generative AI is a powerful tool that has the potential to help kids educationally and developmentally, but as with most other technologies, there are concerns and limitations we need to be aware of.
One major concern is the potential for kids to become overly reliant on using generative AI to complete their schoolwork, which could lead to a decline in critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Additionally, there’s a risk that children might not fully understand or verify the accuracy of the information provided by AI, leading to the spread of misinformation.
As AI models often collect and process large amounts of user data, kids’ data could be collected and used in ways they might not fully understand. Generative AI tools like ChatGPT have an age restriction of 13+ because of children’s online privacy regulations.
There’s also a risk of kids forming unhealthy relationships with AI chatbots, treating them as friends or counselors, for example. This could impact their ability to develop real-life interpersonal skills and deter them from seeking support from their parents or teachers.
5 fun ways to introduce children to generative AI
As generative AI advances and becomes more accessible to young children, we parents have to ensure they’re carefully introduced to AI’s capabilities, and shown how to use it responsibly – that’s why we recommend playing around with generative AI together. Here are 5 ways you can both have fun while getting to grips with generative AI.
1. Create AI-assisted art
Your child can start drawing an image on a tablet, and then use an AI-powered art platform like Scribble Diffusion to transform their work into a detailed work of art. This can demonstrate to your child how AI technology can assist in creativity by taking their initial ideas and building on them, and by showing them alternative ways their ideas can be expressed.
2. Bring stories to life
Screen time often gets blamed for harming children’s creativity, but some AI tools can help ignite their imaginations and practice their reading skills. Kids can give an AI-powered story app like Whimsy a prompt or input what they want to read about, such as characters and plot points, and the app will generate a complete story. There are also AI-powered “choose your own adventure” stories where children’s decisions guide the direction of the story.
3. Make music with AI
If your child is a budding musician, AI can serve as a music-making partner. For example, an AI-powered music generation platform like Soundraw can generate unique compositions based on parameters your child sets, such as genre, mood, and instruments. This is a fun way for children to get hands-on experience with AI while learning songwriting fundamentals.
4. Have a chat with a chatbot
You might be used to communicating your consumer complaints to AI chatbots, but did you know that chatbots can help kids learn, have fun, and practice their social skills?
Chatbots like ChatGPT can serve as a funny and engaging conversation partner for your child – just make sure you monitor at all times and ensure that strong content filters are applied to avoid inappropriate language or topics. We also recommend you use set-up prompts to guide ChatGPT to respond in an age-appropriate way, such as, “Speak like you’re talking to a 10-year-old.”
5. Take a personality quiz
Kids love to find out what mythical creature, animal, or superhero they are, based on their answers to a personality quiz. You can use a generative AI tool like ChatGPT to generate a series of questions related to preferences and behaviors, and it will analyze your child’s answers to determine which animal/superhero/movie character they are. This can help your child familiarize themselves with how AI algorithms work in a fun, engaging way.
We’re only just scratching the surface of generative AI and its capabilities, and as the technology progresses, we’ll see it integrated into more and more facets of our daily lives. Because there are pitfalls associated with this powerful technology, it’s a good idea for parents to introduce young children to AI carefully, in safety-conscious, but fun, ways.
