Children have a funny way of saying exactly what’s on their minds, typically without being asked to do so. Use caution when asking a child his or her opinion on a fashion choice or home cooked meal: The response you’ll receive will likely be more blunt than what you’d get from an adult.
This accidental aversion to sugar-coating the truth can be a bit hurtful, very funny and even insightful. And as it turns out, kids don’t necessarily limit their opinions to whether or not they think mom and dad are “cool.”
According to an article in Wired, today’s youngsters may not be the biggest fans of artificial intelligence. One might assume that because these children will hardly remember a world without AI, they’ll feel more comfortable with the technology and fully embrace it as they age. However, that presumption may not be entirely accurate.
The article sheds light on a growing subsect of Gen Alpha whose familiarity with AI doesn’t equate to an endorsement of it in their schools, media or creative outlets.
Comments that AI is “creepy,” “boring” and “should stand for ‘artificial idiot’” sum up these young tech critics’ thoughts well.
Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?
Due to the nature of AI drawing from a murky well of constantly reused, recycled examples of what was once genuine human effort, even children can often tell when their teachers, parents or friends cut corners and provide them with “AI slop.” AI is incapable of creating something truly new, a habit that provides its users with a copy of a copy of a copy.
While a child’s drawing with inaccurate proportions is endearing, an AI-generated image of a person with the wrong number of fingers is uncomfortable. Mistakes in human art can be beautiful examples of what it means to learn and improve, with small errors being proof of the flawed hands that created an art piece: A computer messing up similar details reflects no such humanity.
Some children are picking up on this concept, pointing out the irony of placing high expectations on kids to learn and grow while the adults in their lives relegate human tasks to a computer that still can’t seem to comprehend what teeth are supposed to look like.
A Bleak Future
On top of the implications AI has on art and creativity, children may overhear adult conversations or news broadcasts about the effects AI will have on their futures, which could spark some fear. Discussion of entire job markets vanishing is not uncommon, especially as corporations attempt to cut costs by relegating what they consider “menial” jobs to machines. Where previous generations may have started careers and learned the value of hard work with a minimum wage food service job, many of those roles are slowly disappearing.
Children may also be aware of the effects that data centers have on our planet. These plants pop up, sometimes near residential homes, requiring an alarming amount of water to keep them running. And while we’ve written several articles about parents being cautious and aware of their children’s AI use, not all kids are drawn to share their emotional problems with a chatbot.
So, regardless of your own AI opinions, be sure to talk to your kids about theirs. AI may be here to stay in some capacity, and it’s best to find a way to use it in a manner that your child is comfortable with—and never in place of creativity or genuine human connection.
Talk to your children about how their own creativity is but a small reflection of the beauty that our Creator instilled into this wonderful world. Whether or not they are intrigued by AI, remind them how a computer can never replace the wonderfully complicated brain that God gave them. And, no matter how bleak AI’s increasing presence can seem, computers aren’t in control: God is.
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