How to talk to your kids about AI, according to a new guide from Pitt
AI is growing so quickly that it's hard for parents to stay ahead of how kids are using it.
You once had to seek out generative AI platforms like ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini, but now, AI is the first thing that comes up in a Google search. Like it or not, kids are being exposed to AI, often without much understanding.
Dr. Elise Silva is the director of policy research at Pitt Cyber at the University of Pittsburgh and studies AI and technology. As the parent of a pre-teen herself, she saw the need for guidance for families and created a new free conversation guide for parents and kids to talk about generative AI.
"There are parents that are just navigating this world without a lot of help, and I think that not talking to kids about AI is like handing them keys to your car with no instructions," Silva said.
Silva says you don't have to be a tech expert to have these conversations. The guide is online and can be downloaded for free and also can be printed out. It has easy-to-understand explanations about generative AI, plus discussion questions and activities you and your kids can do together, like trying AI platforms to see what might be biased or inaccurate.
"I think that opening up non-judgmental spaces is probably the best place to start," Silva suggests. "You could begin by asking questions like, 'What do you know about these technologies? Do your friends use them? And why?'"
The guide features eleven statements about AI, like "Chatbots are not your friend," and "AI can be wrong."
"It's not deterministic, meaning it's not giving you truth. It's giving you what it thinks is a good guess about what should be next. And that's what I mean when I say 'AI produces content, not truth.'"
The guide starts with this tenet: "AI isn't good or bad. But that doesn't mean AI is neutral." Another topic: "Even if you don't pay for it, AI isn't free."
"It feels free," Silva says. "But what you're actually trading when you're interacting with any sort of a free interface like that is your data. That data is incredibly valuable to companies that are continuing to train their models and continuing to develop their products, so it's not free. There's a cost. You're actually giving something up, and there are a lot of other costs. Environmental costs, I think, are part of that discussion as well."
Silva created the guide with pre-teens and teenagers in mind, but there are a lot of topics that can be applied to younger kids. Many kids younger than pre-teens are already interacting with AI or have friends who are, so it's never too early to start.
You can download the guide here. And you can find many more stories with advice for parents at kidsburgh.org.
KDKA is proud to partner with kidsburgh.org.
