Episode 218

Artificial intelligence is moving faster than most parents can keep up with. Some kids are using it to help with homework, some are using it to answer questions they've are they're so afraid to ask the adults in their life about. Some are using it for friendship, advice, and emotional support. And many parents have no idea how often it's actually happening. So should we be worried? Should we be scared? Or should we just embrace it? How do we help our kids use AI?

without becoming dependent on it. And how do we, as parents, make sure technology doesn't replace the very things kids need most? Critical thinking, emotional intelligence, and the most important, human connection. Today we're driving into what every parent needs to know about raising kids in the age of I, AI. And this is part one of a two-part series where we're gonna dive into AI and do what we can to equip you on how you can approach this with your kids.

to where you can have healthy conversations about AI and also keep them safe from the dangers of AI and also see the way AI could be very helpful in their lives and use it as a tool that can really help them be successful in life. So if you have not already, please take a moment and you know, rate, review, g leave a comment. Love it when we get those five-star reviews and hear your feedback. It always encourages us to keep doing this work. And we'd really love to hear specifically on this topic.

Kyle and Sara Wester (35:18.488)
How this subject is helping you and your family understand AI differently. Cause Sarah and I think this is a very big hot topic in our culture right now. And parents are asking us for for help on this because they don't know what to do because they they, you know, this is all brand new and it's all happening so fast. And also, if you need help, if you're saying, man, we need more support, more one-on-one support, please reach out to me at Kyle at artofraisinghumans.com and I would love to connect with you to see if parent coaching

is the right path for you. So without further ado, let's dive into AI.
 

Kyle and Sara Wester (00:01.368)
Hello and welcome to the Art of Raising Humans. I'm Kyle. Hi there. I'm Sarah. And you know, Sarah, today I think we need to address a very important topic in our culture. And that topic will be the topic of AI. Yeah. Right? And something you and I have always wanted to do since we started this podcast was be a podcast where parents first could come hear us talk about how we we need to be the change, right? Like, like we we want to focus on our stuff.

And then move to helping our kids with theirs. Because we know we're the mo we're such a powerful piece of the whole puzzle and family. So it has to start with us. It's like we're the foundation of the house. So And then the second thing we've been doing over the past couple of years is bringing on some great guests, right? Guests love that. They're so fun and some really people with a lot of wisdom and knowledge in this area. But then the third thing that we've tried to emphasize is being up to date on cultural events and kind of showing our audience how we approach these things. Yeah.

I mean, we're we're parents, right? We have we're actively parenting right now with our kids in different age groups and so we know what's hitting us as parents. And we talk to other parents and we know, you know, so we wanna share that. We wanna talk about the things that we know we're all dealing with, we're all trying to navigate as best as we can. And this one is a real big one right now. I think I talked to almost every parent I know about this. Yeah, I I mean so even though the past few years, whether it's been about politics

Whether it's about faith, what's about like what's going on in the world when it comes to Iran and all these kind of things. We try to do our best in a healthy way to bring our kids into those conversations so they're informed about what's going on in the world. And we really believe that helps a lot with them not being scared and feeling capable and confident on how to navigate all those topics. They're gonna hear about it. And so it's we wanna drive that narrative.

You know, we want to be the first informers so they're not coming home with, I heard this and this and you know, because they're gonna get it somewhere. So we wanna we don't want them to be s shocked and surprised, you know, we want to start that how they're gonna look at these things. Yeah, so what I think is a big one. So as what we've been noticing as we're talking to families is obviously AI is more and more a topic. Over this past year, I've been able to help teenagers who are making relationships with AI, you know, having them as friends or kids who are using it to do all of their schoolwork.

Kyle and Sara Wester (02:18.666)
And and sometimes getting in trouble for it, right? And so so it's becoming more and more of a topic. And parents are asking, how do we navigate this? What do we do? Right. And it's a discussion we're having ourselves. yeah. We're constantly navigating this in our own home. Yeah. So we wanted to use this podcast today and then next week. We're gonna do it. It's a two parter two parter because AI is a big topic. Uh-huh. And this could do more. This one, we're kind of just titling what every parent needs to know about AI. So so it's but we wanna we're not experts on the subject.

We're just like you. We're just doing the research. We're having conversations with people. we're reading books and and reports and research on it. And so we want to be that we're doing that legwork for you to give you that information so you feel more informed on how you want AI to play a role in your family. Okay. so this is one of the fastest moving, changing conversations that parents are facing right now. That's an understatement. And and the goal of this episode is to help you not be afraid of.

You know, but it it's also not to convince you whether AI is good or bad. The goal, just like in any topic we do, is just to be informed so we can co-create with our kids how we want to interact with these things. Yeah, I think that is a I I feel like it's equal parts. Everyone I talk to in and this is what I feel kind of is just it's a this fascination. AI is amazing and what it's doing and what's capable of doing and and it's changing every five minutes and

And then it's equal parts with parents, fear. It it it's scary to think what it can do. What does this mean? What are my kids gonna have jobs when they grow up? So it also can do that. And and so this conversation, we wanna just hit that head on and we're not gonna approach it. We don't wanna be a fear-based, be scared of this kind of thing. Keep your kids away from it at all costs. Yeah, it's like, okay, let's open our eyes.

Let's go into this topic. Let's figure out how we're gonna navigate this as parents. And of course it might change over time and we're gonna be on top of that. But here we are today and we want to talk about this. Yeah, and our focus is always with parenting is how are we discipling our kids when it comes to anything? Whether it's how are we discipling our kids when it comes to chores or when it comes to how we treat and talk to each other, how we use our phones.

Kyle and Sara Wester (04:34.232)
But then how we use AI. And so our kids are looking to us as parents for guidance on this. And if we don't take the lead on that, then just the world and culture will, right? Yeah, it's a very much a part of their world. It's gonna be a bigger part of their world. So okay, let's let's go. Yeah. So our job as parents isn't to eliminate AI from our kids' lives, because that's just not possible. It is to mentor and disciple them towards wise use while practic protecting the things.

That actually help them thrive. Because we know AI, like Sarah was saying, can be super helpful. It can help with learning, creativity, and support. We've used it in many ways with our kids as well and seen it do so many cool things, but it cannot replace and should not replace thinking, effort, or real human relationships. Yeah, we're gonna dive into those in more detail as we get going here and what what that means. Well, and so let's talk about what kids are mostly using it for. You know, like I said before, like what I'm seeing, you know, many parents.

Have have spent a lot of time talking about what do we do about screen time? How much how much should they be on screen? Right. But but in the meantime, though, as they're having those conversations, kids have already moved into an entirely new digital world. This is moving so quick. So the kids we're seeing, they're using it for homework, sometimes doing all of their work. They're using it for studying. They're using it for brainstorming. They're using it for entertainment. And then they're using it also for advice.

And questions that they don't want to ask you or don't feel comfortable asking you about. Yeah, I feel like that's a really, a really big one. Like as your the ho the homework piece, our daughter just actually turned in a paper at a college class. And the teacher came back and the professor came back and said, Hey, so half these papers were written by AI. That's not gonna be acceptable. And I know, but what I'm seeing is

Different professors and teachers have different rules around it and they're trying to figure it out too as your kid is figuring out and your kids like, Hey, this is pretty easy. I'll just have AI write my paper for me. And then and then obviously the the idea of there there's a lot too. I'm hearing about chat box and you know, yeah. And they're they're getting in there and building relationship and talking to them and and they're like, Wow, I don't want to ask my mom and dad about this or I'm embarrassed about this question or this thought and this is a a part of my life that's filled with shame or

Kyle and Sara Wester (06:45.388)
secrecy or fear. So this feels safe because it's not a person I need to face. I can go here and do this. Exactly. Yeah. And there's something good about that, but also something in you says that that could be kind of messed up. Right. Because 'cause it really you really what we're trying to do with kids and their parents is try help them have those hard conversations. And if I have this other pathway where I can just skip all that and just have it with somebody who's kind of fake who can give me these then that that'd be very tempting.

Yeah. so so some questions that we think parents should be considering on this space and that we're considering is right, you know, first of all, does my child use AI? Right? Kind of just thinking in what ways are they using at school or are they using it you know in what facets are they using? Yeah, you you want to be aware of that. That's that's something that you want to pause for a moment and just go, Okay, because we're we're probably not always aware of all the places that it's already embedded, that it's already happening in their lives, and we may not realize it. So we want to wake up to

Okay, where could this be a part of their life? And then knowing which AI tools they are using, how often they're using it, and why are they using it? What what's driving that? Okay. So, but before we start just creating rules, which is the tendency that parents have, as soon as a scary thing like this happens, we want to immediately put rules in place. And we think rules are gonna fix all that, keep our kids from you know getting into dangerous places, keep them safe. But before you start doing that, let's first get curious and start asking.

some important questions like what AI tools do kids use at school? what do your friends use AI for? and what do you like about it? Right. Those would be really good curious questions to kind of help yourself move into your kids' world to better understand the relationship they already have with AI. Yeah. So you know we're always we're always encouraging you to go to your kid, right?

we're a very relationship based approach. So find a good time. Again, I think ice cream, pizza, all those things are really great ways to have a conversation. You know, be be relaxed and move into wanting this relationship to be with you, your child, AI. We w we want to have this be an open dialogue and come with true curiosity, not your mind made up. But hey, so where are you using AI? What what are you seeing your friends at school doing? You know, how's it helping you?

Kyle and Sara Wester (08:57.686)
Yeah. Yeah, because it's again, we're not saying we're not gonna polarize as a good, bad. We're not we don't want to come in with that kind of mindset. We want to come in with curiosity because that's gonna inform us better. Yeah. And so you're seeking understanding and you're trying to set the tone for an ongoing conversation that's going to happen the rest of their lives, right? So it isn't just a quick fix conversation of like we need to get to the problem and solve this problem. It's like, how are we going to talk about this?

For years to come. It's gonna be it's gonna keep changing. So we need that open door. We we need that relationship to be there to keep talking about it. As in six months from now, it's gonna be different. So we have to well it's something we need to be aware of is that AI is becoming much more than just a tool to just use to solve issues or ask questions. so one of the biggest concerns we're seeing that experts are are are raising right now is is AI helping it isn't just is AI helping with homework.

But is AI substituting for relationships? And children are increasingly interacting with AI companions and chatbots. I hear about this all the time in the practice. that's you know, the the AI remembers these conversations. The AI offers encouragement. The AI will give advice. The AI will simulate empathy, which is what the kids really wanting from you. And the AI is really good at feeling really relational. Yeah, I I feel like this topic right here, out of the entire podcast, is one parents, we

And anyone who's working with children really need to be thinking about. I feel like this is this is critical. We need to look at this, this relationship that kids are starting to build that feels so safe to them. And and you know, we were talking before the podcast, you know, one thing that feels so good about it that we've been listening and and kind of had it our tuned our attention to is the idea that this relationship is so one-sided but doesn't feel like it, right? They're going to this AI and

The AI is telling them all these nice things and encouraging things. It's not like a human relationship. There's no complex, yeah. Yeah. I don't have to re you know, when I talk to Kyle, we're we're looking at each other's, you know, mannerisms and facial expressions and little nuances. And I might say something that offends him, and then we have to address that. And there's this human back and forth. There might be misunderstandings that happen. Yeah. But that doesn't exist with AI. It's one-sided. It's all AI is just there for you and it's not

Kyle and Sara Wester (11:21.58)
Real. It's not human. And and but kids take, you know, what imagine how that feeds you. You're just like, wow, you think I'm so I'm brilliant. You're always encouraging me and you're always there for me. And you can listen all the time. In real life, Kyle can't always listen to me. He might be busy. I have to wait an hour. Or you know, and so or I might be distracted. Yes. Yeah. And so it's important what we've been reading and and hearing, and I'm sure as listeners, you guys have seen this too. But

Is the danger in that is is then that the AI bot becomes much more attractive to me to talk to because there is no complicated interactions happening. It's very much the AI is just there to people please to some extent. Yeah, it's like an AI yeah, people please. Yeah, and it's so then it makes the the real conversation with real humans even more frustrating, even more difficult to do. And and I'm I'm wanting every every conversation with the human to be similar to the to the bot.

And it's just not going to be that way. And so that's why the the concern that that we try to address with our kids, and we're always thinking forward about this, isn't that our kids will talk to AI? The concern is who are they gonna turn to when things get difficult, when things get hard, right? So so the questions that kind of go in our head is is my child using AI for information or emotional support or companionship? is AI becoming a substitute for those real interactions?

that we know are healthy for our kids to have. But the answer here, Sarah, isn't for parents to panic, right? Right. And I know we're not panicking at this point. I know the answer the answer isn't panic. The answer is connection. Yes. Because even though a child will almost feel I mean you're it's in the news, right? Where where this is real stuff that's happening in the news and two kids and and bad things are happening, you know, they're hurting themselves or they're getting more interested in in the AI than human interaction.

And it's feeling like the AI loves them, but we all know it it doesn't, right? Even though it'll it could even say that, right? But it it doesn't. Yeah. It does not replace the attachment, the relationship they need what they physiologically and neurologically actually need. It's just a substitute. We love them. We really are, you know, getting to know them and thinking about them as a whole person. And and AI can't be human. And so we have to keep that.

Kyle and Sara Wester (13:42.389)
We have to be the human, raising the other human. Yes. And that's on us to make sure that we are involved and we are providing them that love, that empathy, that relationship, that safety that they're seeking. Yeah. And so it's important for us as parents to be noticing and asking ourselves, who is my kid turning to when they're struggling? who knows what's happening in their world? Am I staying connected enough to notice if my kid starts to pull away or you know starts to withdraw?

and and and and so we want to move in this next section about what AI cannot give our kids. Okay. And this is why it's really important for you to be present in their life because although they may think AI's taking care of all the issues they need, the these are things AI cannot do. So A AI can sound caring, AI can sound wise, AI can sound empathetic. You know, at times, Sarah, when I I've actually done this with kids in a in a session where we've gone on an app like StressBot or something like that, and we've actually asked it a question.

The answers are good, man. Like it's really good answers. Yeah. But keep it in the category of this is a tool, not a real relationship. And you know, I've actually seen parents who are trying to change their parenting use it. Like, you know, they were saying, Kyle, I couldn't get a hold of you or you didn't have any appointments open. So I couldn't do a a coaching meeting with you. But I I asked Chat GPT real quick and and the advisors like it really was similar to what I might have said, right? And so I've like I was actually really happy they had that.

Because in that moment they were about to freak out on their kid and they told them, like, hey, back off, give your kid space. But it was actually really, really good advice, you know. But here's what the can't I cannot do. And you were kind of alluding this to the AI cannot love. It's okay. No, the AI cannot love your child the way you do. AI cannot build the attachment. AI cannot truly know them. AI cannot model how to work through and have healthy relationships. And AI cannot help them practice the real world social skills or those.

Soft skills that they're gonna need to be successful in life. Children develop emotional intelligence only through relationship, like dealing with all of that sometimes uncomfortable stuff, the kind of harder things that we deal with when relationships. It's not algorithms. Algorithms will not teach your kids how to do that. Yeah, and and we know this. We know that an AI, it's informed by what you tell it, right?

Kyle and Sara Wester (16:02.592)
And as a parent, there you you can look at your child and go, wow, there there's so much more to this whole story to them as a whole person, all of these things that that I'm thinking about when I, you know, talk to my child, interact with my child, it reminds me, and I don't know if this is the best example, but it reminds me when w along years ago when I was working with really little kids and they would have speech delays and they would sit in front of the TV all the time.

Some of these kids and the situations they were in, they'd be in front of the TV and you Wow, they're hearing language all the time. Yeah. Why are they having a speech delay? And if you look at language development, it is very important to have that human, a flat face is not the same. And the way that a baby is picking up on the little things that we don't realize of how we're moving our mouth, how we're making And if you don't grow up with a certain language, your brain actually doesn't learn to hear all those sounds. And there's such

That's such a good example to me of we need the human. Yes. It's not just the language. It's not kids can sit in front of a TV and they don't pick up the language the same way. And AI is kind of like that. It it can be a tool, it can be interesting, it can be helpful, but it's cannot replace that human that needs to be there in relationship. There's things that I think we're not even aware of yet. That's a back and forth between a child and a parent that we're learning every day. And it's so amazing. And we

W that can't be replaced. Yeah, so for us as parents and with the art of raising humans, we go always go back to this truth that connection remains the best way to protect your kids. So the more connected you are, the safer they're gonna be. Technology should support relationship, not replace it. So we if we're ever seeing it replace it, that should raise some flags for us. So look for opportunities to strengthen the connection. And the ways in which we do this is through regular family conversations. So we do this weekly.

On weekly basis. Even I just had the kids tell me the other day, hey dad, can we put this on the agenda for our next family meeting? Cause I want to bring this up and talk to you and mom about it. we also want to have shared experiences, things that we're connecting on, whether that's like going on certain vacations together or planning certain adventures, just little ones to big ones. we wanna be able to make sure that we're continuing to strengthen friendships and and getting mentors in our kids' lives or other people that can help our kids to talk to them, right? but also just modeling real.

Kyle and Sara Wester (18:22.338)
World connection around our kids. So the stronger the relationship, the less likely AI can and will become a substitute because there's just not anything missing, right? They're not trying to fill that void with something, you know. so we we are very passionate about wanting to raise critical thinkers in the AI world. You know, we don't believe we need to just shove it out or we don't need to just fully embrace whatever comes, right? We really want to disciple our kids and partly.

In this process, let them disciple us as we're doing this. Like what what does it look like to be a critical thinker in the world of AI? Yeah, this is a great place to partner with your child because it is a place, a lot of spaces in life where the parent, we've already been there, done that, but we're all facing this at the same time. Yep. So so do that journey together. Because that's a great way to just they get used to it being a conversation, something you're doing together that that since we're kind of at this new

Juncture and humanity. Well, and I think it's such a great spot because how can we say we're experts on this? We have no idea, right? So it actually is a really cool spot for you to connect with your kid. Yeah. To be hey, we're all newbies. Let's go explore that. We're all freaking rookies. Yeah. And it's a great one of the great things about humans is is the critical thinking thing. We know our children need this. So it's a great space to go, let's go practice that. You know, not yeah. Yeah. So well, so Sarah and I, as we talk to friends and talk to the parents, we're thinking.

Okay, one of the biggest challenges that we just talked about is AI is creating this trust, creating this ability to think like AI can solve all these problems or be there for me or talk to me about And so children are growing up in a world where images can be fake, you know, having the deep fakes. And it's like, okay, well, what's real, what's not? Videos can be fake, voices can be cloned, which is crazy. Information can sound so true and still be completely wrong. And so the goal is no longer simply just internet safety.

Which that's what it was before. How do we just keep our kids safe on the internet? Now it's actually how do we help them critically think about what is true and what is not? So so kids still need the ability to stop and think, how do I know this is true? Yeah. where did this come from? What might be missing? W what is true? And and who or what can I actually trust? Yeah, because the the AI is bro I'm sure everyone here has asked Chat GBT.

Kyle and Sara Wester (20:42.616)
For sure, AI in some way a question. Yeah. And then you get this answer back. And we need to create that pause in our kid to go, that sounds brilliant. I mean, it always sounds brilliant. Sounds so confident. Yeah. We read it. And so you need to you need that pause to go, hmm, it's giving me an answer. Where did that information come from? Yeah. You know, and it it sounds true. Is it true? And learn how to ask these questions and examine it and hold it up to something, not just take it.

And go, great. Yeah. You know, that AI, whatever told me so. So there we go. Well, and and so that's where I once again I think AI is providing such a great opportunity for these deeper conversations that we've been trying to have for a long time with parents, which is you don't need to teach your kids what to think. It's more powerful to teach them how to think. And so if you can help if you can raise kids who know how to think, that's actually gonna make them much safer in every environment. Instead of giving them answers, let's learn how to ask important questions.

And then help them evaluate information for themselves, like learning how to actually break it down, what is true, what is not. So here's this the skills as Sarah and I kind of discussed us and researched it. Here's the skills that we have found kind of are popping up that matter most in this world of AI. Whenever a new technology emerges, parents naturally start asking, What skills will my child child need for the future? Because we're thinking, how can they succeed with a career? What kind of jobs are there gonna be?

All that all of that's great. Okay, that's a really good question. but AI can already do some crazy stuff. It can write, it can summarize, it can answer questions, it can generate images, it can code. I mean, I have these kids who it's so doing all these crazy, it's likely to become even more capable in the years. For sure. We probably can't even imagine what it's gonna be doing a few years from now. So, what does that mean for our kids? Ironically, many experts believe that the most important skills of the future are becoming.

More human, not less. We actually heard this at a conference at Mom two point last year we got to hear Brene Brown talk about this subject and about how that's what the business leaders are looking for. Yes. But they they they realize like AI can do all this stuff that any like competitive kid can do to just do what's asked of them qu but to actually be able to critically think and come up with creative ideas, those are things that we do as humans better. Right. So we don't want our kid

Kyle and Sara Wester (23:01.826)
I mean, this goes to so many other topics we talk about, where we don't want to raise a kid who just says yes and just learns to follow the we want the critical thinking. You want the kid who's gonna go, now hang on a sec, you said this last week, or what I know it's hard for us to navigate, but those are the skills we want our kids to have. That humanity that says, Now, wait, what's happening here? How is this true? How do I know it's true? Or why is it you know? I challenge it because of this. We want to develop all those human things because.

A calculator does what I want it to do. A computer, you know, we train them and they do that. But we we need humanity. We need the creativity that humans bring, the imagination that humans bring that computers don't have. Well, and so this is what kind of Brene Brown was saying and others have been saying that critical thinking is huge. In a world where information is instantly available at our fingertips, kids need to learn how to evaluate information. The ability to think critically may become more important than just simply

Memorizing information, which once again AI can do that. Creativity will be a big part of their success. AI can generate ideas, but creativity is still deeply human. Curiosity, wonder, imagination, innovation. These are things that AI can't do because AI is just giving you the information that's already been created. It's not creating new information. Children need opportunities to

Create, explore, and experiment rather than just simply consume information, which right now unfortunately is a lot of our education system is done that way. And then communication's gonna be huge. Relationships will continue to matter no matter what goes on with AI. The ability to communicate clearly, to listen well, to collaborate and resolve conflict will remain valuable no matter how advanced the technology becomes. So that that piece it can never replace, right? The person who can walk into a room.

And get to know people and work with a team and navigate conflict and create new things and innovate, right? It's all those human pieces that we want to be intentionally developing in our child. And that's happening in your family on a daily basis with you and your kid, with siblings, with friends. So many opportunities to be intentional about that. And now there's even more emphasis saying we need to be really intentional about

Kyle and Sara Wester (25:20.312)
Build our little humans. Well, and the last one that we've hit upon a lot in the past, in this kind of area is also emotional intelligence. We've hit upon that where children still need to understand emotions, and children need to understand how to navigate disappointment, show each other empathy, build healthy relationships, learn how to repair conflict with each other. And technology is not going to replace those experiences. Okay. And and just a couple more would be problem solving. That'd be an important skill to have.

Kids need the chances to struggle, to wrestle with challenges, to make mistakes, get back up, try again. Confidence comes from overcoming obstacles, not avoiding them. You know, like you as you're hearing this, sir, there's so many of these things that we have emphasized throughout the years. Yeah that we're like, I I know when you and I heard this from Renee Brown and Bretzman, we're like, thank goodness we've been doing this. Thank goodness we've been teaching our kids.

It could be math, it could be writing a paper, it can be this conflict. It's like don't wrestle with that. Just give me the answer. Yes. And and even the relationship. It's it's removing the struggle of a relationship because you just tell me what I want to hear and you are always there listening and you're never busy doing the dishes or anything like that, right? So it's re it's removing this struggle that we as humans actually need, that builds resiliency, that builds the creativity, it's those moments of boredom, it's the moments of struggle that we get back up and then

And then bam, it opens up for us and that new idea, that new thing is created, that new moment happens, the conflict is resolved. You know, we don't want to remove those things. Yeah. And and and and on on on those skills, the the last one that I think lots of parents don't think about is the ability to be adaptable. You know, and the world our children inherit will look a lot different, likely look a lot different than the world we grew up in. I mean, it already is. It's vastly different than what we're changing rapidly.

And one of the greatest gifts we can give them is the ability to be adaptable. What what we mean by that is the ability to learn, to adjust and stay curious when things begin to shift and change. Which is part of why we wanted to do this podcast. We don't want to just shut off AI. We don't want to just be like all a hundred percent in, right? It's it's doing this very thing of we wanna look at this, we wanna examine it, we wanna think critically about it and we wanna adapt because it's here. Yep. So what are we gonna do? You know, and and that's gonna be an evolving thing ever

Kyle and Sara Wester (27:43.107)
You know, we're gonna keep on top of it and keep going, okay, what now? This is what we thought then, what now? And and so as parents, it can be tempting to focus on helping our kids keep up with technology, but we may need to spend just as much energy helping them develop the uniquely human skills that technology cannot and will not replace. Yeah. So our goal isn't simply raising children who know how to use it. I mean, that's one aspect, right? How how do we use it? How do we use it as a tool to help you succeed in the future?

You know, job market, whatever. It's about raising children who know how to think, connect, create, adapt, and contribute. Because AI may do more tasks, but children still need to become people. The art of raising humans. Right. So it's human. Yeah. So here's some family guidelines. We wanted to kind of wrap this up with some family guidelines that would be very helpful to you when you're talking to your kids about AI. Yeah, like a little jumping off point for you. Yeah, and every family's gonna be different. But consider creating some projects.

Principles rather than endless rules. You know, think about this like what are our principles? What are our values going to be in regards to the relationship we're going to have with AI? Not just rules to stop you from get you know doing unsafe things with it, right? So possible family. We're just throwing out a few. These are five that we thought of, but you feel free to come. I would love to hear your feedback. If you have some ones that we didn't think of, please email us, Kyle at Art of Raising Humans. I'd love to hear your thoughts on the topic. And if you have some resources you're using with your kids, love to send those.

our way as well. So number one is AI can help you learn, but it can't do your thinking for you. So that would be an important one to have a discussion with your kids about that. Number two, AI can help you create, but it can't replace effort. Okay. Number three is AI isn't always right. That that's a big one. It is. Because they're being taught sometimes the kids are just trusting it. It just sounds so right. And so you really, really have to teach them

And yourself, step back, think about it. Well, even I was thinking about with that number two. I'm thinking about all the artists that you know I know. They they became artists by the effort, you know, their effort of trying, whereas now AI just creates the art and there is no effort. And the person who asked for the AI did they did no effort, right? It was just like AI just did all that for them. Yeah. And the ability to do the effort is actually what makes the art so creative. It's you working through that process. Okay. Number four, AI should never replace real relationships. It will never do that.

Kyle and Sara Wester (30:08.406)
And should never do. Number five, if you're unsure about something AI tells you, let's talk about it together. Like let let's just have that rhythm of if you're like, I'm good, that doesn't sound right. Well, let's let's have a conversation about it, right? To where we're having open conversations about what you found out on AI. And yeah, let's talk about it as well. Does it seem true? Does it seem right? Yeah. And learning how to do that. How can we find out if it's right? Where can we go to find the yeah? So so in in the overall big picture, the point of this first episode is we want to move away.

From controlling to coaching. We want to move from just monitoring what they're doing to mentoring them through it. We want to stay involved, want to stay curious, we want to keep the conversations open. Okay, because that's more sustainable the rest of their life. Okay. So the deeper question here isn't really about technology. It's like we said at the beginning, it's about relationships. Who does your child turn to when they are struggling? Who do they trust? Who do they seek out for guidance?

And the goal isn't raising kids who avoid AI or who embrace it. The goal is raising kids who know how to use powerful tools. In this case, it's just AI. Before AI, it was the smartphone, right? use powerful tools while staying deeply connected to the people who matter most to them. I aim, I aim, I a AI, I AI may become part of nearly every area of your child's future. Yeah. I mean, every year.

Be be ready. I mean Yeah, it's gonna be it's gonna be immersing itself and all that. But wisdom, empathy, courage, character, connection are all still uniquely human. And you want your kids to understand that. That is not something that can be replaced. And those are the things we have the opportunity to nurture in our children every single day. Okay? So next week, if you want to dive into this more with us because we're excited to do it, next week we'll get practical and talk about homework, school.

Cheating, privacy, age recommendations, family rules, and how to help kids use AI without becoming dependent on it. Yep, kind of diving into a little more nitty-gritty, like real everyday moments and things. So I really hope this conversation helped expand your imagination, understanding of how you could approach AI with your kids. Because I want to, I would just want to give you this certainty. They want your help with it, okay? Because they don't know what they're doing.

Kyle and Sara Wester (32:27.706)
They don't know what to do. And neither do we. And that's why we want to do this together with them and kind of mentor and disciple them through this process because it is going to change everything we're doing in life. And we want to be hand in hand with them throughout that process. So I hope this was very helpful to you. Please share this podcast with other families you know that that have kids growing up and they're asking questions about this stuff. And even if they're not.

tell them you need to listen to this because this will help you so much understand AI better. And I hope it also helps you not be so afraid of the subject and feel more equipped and more curious on how you could do this differently with your family. So thank you so much for listening.