Raising A Generation With AI Technology!
AI From Fiction To Reality!
For millennials, AI has always been a concept straight out of sci-fi films. We grew up watching Terminator 2, The Matrix, Smart House, and Futurama, stories that made AI seem like a force destined to turn against us. In reality, AI isn’t leading a machine uprising; it’s helping us with daily tasks like navigation, research, and even writing.
As working adults, we appreciate AI-assisted tools for their convenience because they save time and streamline tasks. We’re also the last generation that learned how to navigate life before AI became readily available. We had to unfold physical maps and read road signs before GPS. We double-checked our messages for grammar mistakes before predictive text corrected them automatically.
Now, we raise kids in an era where AI integrates into everything from homework help to entertainment. The irony of AI isn’t in world domination like the movies warned us—it’s in how it helps us so efficiently that it risks weakening our fundamental skills. Will AI make things too easy for our kids, replacing essential problem-solving skills? Just like we balanced the transition from analog to digital, we’re now figuring out how to raise kids who can leverage the benefits of AI while solving problems on their intuition.
Good For Productivity Bad For Development
AI has become a buzzword, replacing past terms like “supercomputers” or “Y2K-compliant systems.” regardless of the name, AI-powered technology is now embedded in our daily lives. Spell-checkers are the most common use for AI tools since they are standard with most messaging applications. Without a second thought, we use automated spell checkers to ensure our messages are clear and concise. The more advanced spell-checkers can suggest better overall messages that replace the original text or generate them from scratch. These applications are perfect for optimizing messaging for work emails, informational content, and general productivity. This ease of use can come at the cost of our kids' ability to construct sentences or conduct critical thinking on their own.
Using AI's benefits for work is fantastic for us parents who already have reading & writing comprehension skills with critical thinking because it improves workflow. On the other hand, If our kids rely on AI before developing core skills, the technology meant to help them might hinder their growth.
A study from the research article, The Influence of Spell-checkers On Students' Ability to Generate Repairs Of Spelling Errors, concluded that spell-checkers did not help students on a cognitive level. Students did not internalize the corrections, making it likely they would repeat the same grammatical mistakes. This is an insight into the possible outcomes of AI reliance in a learning environment. AI as an assisted tool isn't a bad thing, but ensuring our kids retain the fundamentals for basic cognitive abilities before leveraging the tools designed to help productivity is crucial for their long-term development and critical thinking.
Is Critical Thinking and Problem Solving At Risk?
Creativity and problem-solving are essential skills that strengthen cognitive abilities and help us overcome challenges. With generative AI on the rise, some worry that over-reliance on these technologies could weaken independent thinking. Microsoft researchers warn that improper use of generative technology could lead to a decline in cognitive abilities, as highlighted in their study, The Impact of Generative AI on Critical Thinking: Self-Reported Reductions in Cognitive Effort and Confidence Effects From a Survey of Knowledge Workers. Google's ad, Prompt Your Way With Gemini, shows AI providing answers for in-person communication over friends talking to each other naturally. It's comedic entertainment, but that doesn't dodge the possibility that future generations might rely on it for personal communication over their thoughts and feelings.
While these concerns may seem extreme, they highlight the importance of balance. We must encourage our kids to strengthen their creativity and problem-solving skills through activities like art, music, and even video games rather than allowing them to resort to AI as their first choice for an answer. As the first generation raising kids in an AI-driven world, millennials have a unique responsibility to teach kids how to use it as a tool, not a crutch.
Leveraging AI For A Prosperous Future
Real AI isn’t threatening like Ultron seeking to destroy the world. The real possible threat is how we let it shape our kids’ thinking. We had to learn how to use technology in a computer lab as a means of research and digital communication, today’s kids are given technology early on with information spoon-fed to them. If we didn’t know how to spell a word, we grabbed a dictionary or had peer editing. If we wanted to learn about something we took the initiative to read books or conduct deep research on a topic. The search for answers made us exercise critical thinking and navigate how to obtain the information we wanted to learn. Now, AI gives instant answers. Our kids aren't learning if they never stop to think why something is correct or to check for a second opinion for accuracy.
The key isn’t restricting AI, it's encouraging our kids to flex their problem-solving muscles. Let them brainstorm before asking ChatGPT. Let them struggle through a math problem instead of taking the shortcut. Creativity doesn’t come from automation; it comes from trying, failing, and figuring it out. When they find an answer on their own, we can teach them prompts that will add or refine the answer they've created to leverage the use of AI for its benefits. We grew up mastering everything from Gameboys to iPods to early social media. Now, it’s our turn to teach our kids how to adapt, making sure AI is a tool for growth, not a crutch that replaces it.
