Navigating Generative AI with your kids

Generative AI is like having a super creative robot friend in your computer! It can draw cool pictures, tell exciting stories, and even make music all on its own. It's like magic, but with technology. Kids can use it for fun projects, and parents can use it to make things special and unique. So, whether you're young or grown-up, generative AI is a fantastic tool for making your digital world more fun and creative!

Full transparency, that intro paragraph was written by ChatGPT, a natural language processing artificial intelligence (AI) program created by OpenAI. I prompted ChatGPT to “write me a short introductory paragraph about generative AI for kids and parents.” And that’s what the program provided. Nearly immediately.

What is generative AI?

TechTarget defines generative AI as, “a type of artificial intelligence technology that can produce various types of content including text, imagery, audio and synthetic data.”

It all starts with a prompt. You provide a generative AI program (like ChatGPT, which surpassed an incredible 1 million users in just five days since its launch in November 2022) with text, an image, a video, a design or musical notes to process. The program then uses algorithms to give you content based on the prompt you provided. You can ask a generative AI program to write an essay, solve a problem or create images or audio.

Making its presence felt

Generative AI is making its presence felt everywhere. Schools and universities in particular are trying to figure out ways to govern and regulate its use with students.

According to a recent survey by KPMG, 52% of students over 18 have used generative AI to complete school work or pass an exam, despite 60% feeling it constitutes cheating. However, 90% of respondents saw the quality of their schoolwork improve and 70% said their grades improved.

School aged kids are also jumping into generative AI. Snapchat launched its My AI chatbot in May 2023. According to Snapchat, “My AI can answer a burning trivia question, offer advice on the perfect gift for your BFF’s birthday, help plan a hiking trip for a long weekend or suggest what to make for dinner.”

But many kids are relating to their My AI chatbots as their new BFFs. They confide in them, seek advice and welcome the lack of social pressure and full acceptance they sometimes struggle to find in their real lives.

CBC Producer Sonya Varma chronicled her 12 and 15-year old daughters’ experiences with My AI in a June 2023 story. Her 12-year old uses My AI as a math tutor. But her 15-year old’s impressions are a bit more worrisome. Her experience? "This [AI] is perfect. No mean things to say. No weirdness. Everything is just perfect, and they're willing to learn about what I want. They said even though I'm not a real person I can still be a good friend and listen to you talk about things you love. I love My AI. It’s my best friend.”

Creativity and caution

As with any technology innovation, there is always good and bad. On the positive side, youth-focused organizations are using AI to enhance their services for young people.

In June 2023, Kids Help Phone partnered with Vector Institute to develop evidence-based service delivery and improve the skills and experience of its staff. The goal is to reduce any barriers for youth in accessing e-mental health support.

The Natural Language Processing (NLP) inherent in AI will help Kids Help Phone adapt and learn the dialogue of their young clients. The organization can then better target services based on their words, phrases and speech patterns.

On the flip side, there are concerns with AI, especially when it comes to youth:

• Chatbot BFFs could impede the development of important social skills like conflict resolution and emotional regulation.
• Because chatbots speak in language and learn progressively based on their interactions, kids can establish relationships and attachments that aren’t real and don’t necessarily reflect real life.
• AI is a data collection tool, so sharing too openly could expose kids to privacy concerns.
• Ethical issues creep up when there is profit involved – Replika, one of the most popular AI chatbots, comes with a $70 USD annual subscription fee plus the option of additional in-app purchases.
• A lack of regulation has made it difficult for educators to draw any real lines for students when it comes to AI and learning.

Generative AI has great potential to help kids elevate their curiosity, expand how they formulate ideas and express themselves. There is a lot of creativity and fun that comes with the technology. But parents need to get curious too and keep the lines of communication open. If your kids are using generative AI or are interested in it, find out what they like about and what they do with it. Talk to them about privacy and ethics. Highlight the positive instead of dwelling on the negative. For example, explore how the tool can be used at school to enhance learning instead of emphasizing how it’s being used to cheat. By exploring the technology together and talking about it often, you can bring awareness to the risks without diminishing their passion and excitement for the possibilities.