Will AI make kids dumb?

Socrates got this one wrong

AI’s disruption to education reminds me of when I first discovered bitcoin in 2012.

Blockchain technology was obviously revolutionary. But it was hard to understand and very different from anything that came before. So, most people took no action. It took 13 years (and counting) for the average person to catch on.

If you were early and bought some, it changed your life.

I did not buy bitcoin in 2012. I am not making that mistake with AI education. It is handing us the opportunity to give every kid a world-class education, even if they go to a bad school or have an overwhelmed teacher.

Most people won’t seize the opportunity because of inertia. Schools will be slow to adapt. Teachers unions will resist change. So, it’s up to you – as a parent, grandparent, adult role model, or just a simple Rational Optimist – to act.

You’ll recall from last week that the “1 teacher, 25 students model” is done. AI is delivering what author Erik Hoel calls “aristocratic tutoring.”

We have long known how to let almost any kid flourish into an A+ student: lots of one-on-one tutoring and personalized time with present adults. With AI, this model is finally scalable. A world-class tutor on demand. For less than the cost of Netflix. Aristocratic tutoring for all!

Last week we looked at the new schools and AI platforms revolutionizing education. Today, I’ll tell you the 6 ways I use AI to teach my kids, so you can start today.

We’ll also confront the widespread worries about AI education and discuss the best ways to “future proof” your kids.

Let’s get a big objection out of the way:

“AI will make kids dumb.”

In 370 BC, Socrates fretted a hot new-ish innovation called “writing” would allow people to appear wise without actually understanding things. We know this because his student, Plato… wrote about it.

Similar fears emerged with the printing press, calculator and the web. AI is the new villain.

If you use AI correctly, as we looked at last week, it does the 180 degree opposite of making kids dumb.

But underneath this worry is a valid premise. The world our kids live in as adults will be wildly different from today’s. No one can perfectly predict the details. So how do we future proof our kids?

Let’s ask Jeff Bezos:

“I very frequently get the question: 'What's going to change in the next 10 years?'

I almost never get the question: 'What's not going to change in the next 10 years?'

And I submit to you that that second question is actually the more important of the two…”

He built Amazon knowing people will always want low priced stuff delivered fast, no matter how technology changes the details. What are those equivalent timeless principles to instill in our kids?

I keep coming back to five things that’ll never change:

The P.O.W.E.R curriculum

 

P: Problem-Solving. The world will always need people who can figure things out. This means teaching kids to break down complexity – to ask the second and third questions.

Show kids every problem is a puzzle to be solved.

O: Ownership (Agency). Agency is the belief that you can steer your own path. This means teaching kids how to start things, not just follow the rules.

I didn’t even know what an entrepreneur was until I was in college. Start a business? You can just do that? Drill the “just do it, don’t wait for permission” mindset into your kids.

It starts with you. Most parents will wait for some school district-approved “AI Literacy Plan.” They’ll be waiting awhile.

You, Rational Optimist, take the lead.

W: Wonder (Curiosity). Wonder is the wellspring of intelligence. If we can protect our children's natural curiosity, the rest takes care of itself. I want my kids – Aubrey, Ri, and George – to constantly ask, “what if?” and “how does that work?”

The good news is you don’t need to teach curiosity. You need to guard it and help it grow, like a flame. And you can do that by answering every “why?”

Don’t know the answer? Ask ChatGPT to create a four-week quest around whatever lights up your kids. Find that spark and pour gasoline on it. That’s how you turn curious kids into self-driven adults.

E: Empathy (Character). AI can already write flawless code, diagnose diseases, and design a logo in seconds. But it can’t look someone in the eye and inspire them.

That’s why character traits like empathy and charisma will become the ultimate edge. To win in the AI age, be more human. The jobs that matter most will be built on personal connection.

I asked Bob McGrew, former Chief Research Officer at OpenAI, what happens when AI can do most “thinking jobs” better than we can. His answer:

“We’ll all become personal trainers…”

 

“An AI can give me the perfect workout plan. But it can’t get me off the couch when I’m feeling lazy.”

The CEO of Klarna, who is at the forefront of AI adoption, agrees. He says the one role he's still aggressively hiring for is salespeople. People connect with people, not robots. There’s a case that salesperson is the most AI-proof job of all.

Thirty years ago, nobody could’ve imagined careers like digital content strategist or Instagram influencer. Tomorrow’s jobs will sound just as weird. Get ready for chief inspiration officers and personal networking coaches.

Two additional qualities to foster that AI can’t help with:

Grit. At a lunch with a group of investors in Dubai, an older, very successful man quipped, “Make sure you introduce volatility into your kids’ lives early.” The world is in constant flux. Teach our kids how to navigate uncertainty and overcome setbacks, and they’ll never be out of work.

Kindness. Our kids learn how to act by watching us. Monkey see, monkey do. Don’t be a jerk. Admit when you’re wrong. That goes a long way.

R: Reading (Concentration). The Atlantic recently published a troubling story: The Elite College Students Who Can’t Read Books. It profiled kids who made it through high school, some into Ivy League classrooms, without ever finishing a book.

Reading full books will become a superpower in the AI era. In a world where attention is splintered into a hundred notifications, those who can focus will own the future. Deep focus is a disappearing skill and a massive edge.

A golden rule for Rational Optimists: Always be reading, writing and thinking.

6 ways I use AI with my kids.

The “why” game.

My son asks “why” twenty times in a row. A first principles thinker! Problem is I often don’t know why.

Now I turn to ChatGPT when I hit a wall. I ask it to explain the answer in simple language. They understand and we both learn something new. 

This exercise has made my daughter ask more questions, because she knows the answer is out there somewhere, even though her dad doesn’t know it. “Where do sharks keep their eggs?” Good question!

Quiz builder.

After we read a book, I have AI create a quiz for us to answer at the end. They love it. Here’s an example of the prompt I use.

“You are a world-class quiz creator. Make five fun, multiple-choice questions about ‘The Gruffalo’ for my 6-year-old daughter and 4-year-old son. Each question should have plausible wrong answers. At the end, give an answer key and a brief explanation.”

Write their own stories.

Young Rational Optimists don’t just read books. They can be authors too.

I asked my daughter to create a bedtime story. I typed her response into ChatGPT and voila!, AI turned it into a full plot we read that night. Maybe next time I’ll use AI image generation tools like DALL-E to add pictures.

Having kids create something they usually only consume teaches them agency. You can just create things.

Role play.

AI is a chameleon. It can ‘become’ anyone from Princess Elsa to President Eisenhower.

For schoolkids this is a great way to learn history. You can place yourself anywhere, anytime.

Here’s a prompt I used with my daughter:

You are a curious six-year-old girl named Callista, living in a seaside village in ancient Greece. Describe your world in vivid, sensory detail. What do you see, hear, smell, taste? What is your home like? What do you wear?

Tell me how you earn money, help your family, or spend your time. Do you go to school? If so, what do you learn and who teaches you? What games do you play? What’s your favorite food? What do you dream of doing when you grow up? Speak like you’re telling a story to a new friend. Make it rich with detail, fun little facts, and moments that would surprise a modern six-year-old.

Then your kid can chat back and forth with the AI persona.

For young entrepreneurs AI can act as “Shark Tank” in a box. Ask the AI to play the role of a skeptical investor and pitch your startup idea to it.

Make your kid the tutor.

Einstein said, “You do not really understand something unless you can explain it to your grandmother.” One of the best ways to learn is to teach others.

Have your child use AI to design a lesson for their siblings about a topic they know well. This pays double. They’re using AI and learning how to think.

Pro tips:

Voice mode. My kids can’t type yet. With ChatGPT voice mode they can tell “the lady on dad’s computer” what they want.

Specific prompts. A good prompt is the difference between borderline useless AI and the world’s greatest productivity tool. Treat ChatGPT like an intern. Be specific. Give it lots of context and tell it exactly what you want.

And yes, teach your kids to prompt. The ability to ask great questions will be more valuable than knowing all the answers.

But, but, but…

“AI makes kids lazy.”

ChatGPT has killed homework. It can write a perfect critique of To Kill A Mockingbird. There’s no going back. We must go forward.

The future will reward kids who think, collaborate, and prompt AI to help them build new things.

Forward-thinking educators like Tyler Cowen (George Mason) and Ethan Mollick (Wharton) are leaning in. In some classes they require students to use AI and grade them on the process.

“AI replaces teachers.”

We busted this myth last week. AI will relieve teachers from mundane tasks like grading papers, freeing them to connect with, inspire, and mentor kids.

Now with a few simple prompts teachers can use ChatGPT to create personalized lesson plans for each kid, in every subject, in minutes.

A new report from the Walton Family Foundation found teachers who use AI weekly save the equivalent of six weeks of time per school year. That’s time they can redirect toward individualized feedback, particularly for struggling (or gifted) students.  

“AI turns kids into zombies.”

When people hear "AI learning," they imagine zombie kids slouched in front of glowing screens.

As we discussed last week, not at Alpha School. Its AI learning is so powerful, core academics are compressed into short, focused sprints. This frees kids to spend the rest of the day being more human. Running, building, exploring.

Imagine 30 minutes of targeted math… then your kid is outside kicking a ball or selling lemonade. This is particularly promising for little boys, who often aren’t wired to thrive sitting at a desk seven hours a day.

I strictly limit my kids screen time. But AI shouldn’t be lumped in with apps that fry our attention spans. Unlike scrolling TikTok, AI makes you think.

AI Homeschool?

I met a money manager who’s homeschooling his three kids using ChatGPT.

He told ChatGPT all about his kids – their strengths and weaknesses, values he wanted to instill in them, which books they had – and asked it to create lesson plans. Within a few minutes the AI drew up custom weekly learning schedules for his three kids. And it grades the work as they go.

Homeschooling isn’t for my family. But I see why people do it, and it’s more viable than ever thanks to AI.

The real risk comes from NOT using AI.

Prestigious diplomas won’t future proof your kids.

What matters now: Can they build the product and solve the problem?

Action to take: Ask ChatGPT or Google’s Gemini to create an individualized summer learning plan for a child in your life. Trial Khanmigo. Test Synthesis.

These tools get better every week. And they’re almost free. Start today!

—Stephen McBride

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Stephen McBride is a co-founder of the Rational Optimist Society.

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