Navigating the AI Era with Children

On January 15, Marlborough’s Parents and Guardians Education Series (PAGES) welcomed Eric Hudson, a facilitator and strategic advisor in education technology, for a morning dedicated to one of parenting’s newest challenges: artificial intelligence and children.

AI has rapidly become part of daily life. As Mr. Hudson pointed out, it is “the fastest adopted technology in human history.” To demonstrate the point, he asked the room how many people regularly use generative AI and how often. The hands raised showed that most people are using it multiple times per week, if not on a daily basis. This is in stark contrast to even two years ago when people were just starting to learn what this technology is. However, despite its quick adoption, understanding how to talk with children about this powerful technology is where things get complicated.

To start to untangle the complications, Mr. Hudson began by demystifying what AI actually is and what it can do. First, he showcased its multimodal capabilities. AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and Google Gemini no longer only create text-based outputs. They can analyze images, hold voice conversations, generate videos, and write computer code. Mr. Hudson then showed a video he created where an AI avatar of himself spoke in fluent Mandarin, a language he does not speak. Several Chinese-speakers in the room gave a thumbs up when he asked if it was accurate. 

“We are leaving the generative phase of AI and entering the agentic phase,” Mr. Hudson explained. Agentic AI doesn’t just make things. It can do things. He showed a screen recording of ChatGPT’s agent mode logging into an online course, determining what assignments were due, completing those assignments, and then submitting them for a grade. “I think we have all felt very viscerally that this technology is moving quickly. I’m here to validate that feeling,” Mr. Hudson said.

In considering how to engage with children about AI, Mr. Hudson frames his guidance into three pathways: literacy, learning, and ethics.

Acknowledging that kids are already good at using technology, including AI, Mr. Hudson centers AI literacy on teaching them to understand the technology they are using. He showed a series of images to parents and guardians and asked them to identify which were AI-generated and which were real photographs. The majority of the room guessed wrong every time. “Human beings are not good at distinguishing between AI-generated and human-generated content,” he explained, assuaging egos. “We now live in a world where our own eyes are not the most reliable tools.”

When it comes to school work and educational environments, students have already deeply integrated this technology into their workflow. When Mr. Hudson asks students at schools with whom he partners how many of their peers are using AI, they estimate 90% or more. The role of adults is to help provide guidance and boundaries to this usage. 

To discuss AI and learning, Mr. Hudson led by differentiating between two crucial usages: direct versus collaborative. Direct use means delegating the entirety of a task to AI, such as a student directing ChatGPT to “write this paper for me.” Collaborative use means using AI to support a task or process, writing a prompt like “explain this concept like I’m in kindergarten” or “give me feedback on my draft.”

Research shows that these different approaches have vastly different impacts on learning. Frequent direct use of AI has a negative effect on human cognition and critical thinking. Collaborative use, however, can actually improve creativity. It lightens the cognitive load enough to complete a process that might have felt insurmountable to tackle alone.

Using a video from Vox Media, Mr. Hudson showcased exactly how the process of learning works. The core takeaway was that real learning requires struggle and friction. “Generative AI is designed to eliminate friction from our lives,” he noted. “But learning requires friction!” It is key for parents and educators to help students understand how to lean into difficulty, rather than fully offload the struggle to an AI tool.

For the third pathway, AI and ethics, Mr. Hudson extended the topic beyond academic integrity to include AI’s impact on the world writ large. He discussed algorithmic bias, deepfakes, environmental concerns, and disinformation. “Students ask me a lot about the environmental impact of AI,” he shared. “They also ask: ‘Am I going to be able to have the career I want because of AI?’” Students are fixated on how to use AI for their homework. They are thinking much bigger than that, worrying about their futures in a world they are witnessing being reshaped by this technology in real time. 

So what can parents do and what actions should they take? Mr. Hudson offered some practical advice for simple action steps. First, use generative AI and use it “with young people in mind.” For example: Try looking at a student’s homework assignment and asking ChatGPT how you might support them in completing it. Second, approach children with open-ended questions and listen. When students have been surveyed about what they need from the adults in their lives regarding AI, the overwhelming theme that emerges is that they want guidance, not lessons on how to use it but conversations about how to use it appropriately. 

At its core, Mr. Hudson’s message was about using a “human-centered AI” approach. It is reframing your own usage to ensure it enables better human connection and relationships, rather than replacing them. 

This timely, important PAGES presentation equipped parents and guardians with information about AI and, perhaps most importantly, a framework for engaging their children in ongoing conversations about this significant technological advancement. AI isn’t going anywhere, but with the right guidance and support, students can learn to use the technology thoughtfully and ethically, and in ways that genuinely support their learning instead of replacing it.