Six Ways AI Can Help You Raise Your Children (and Five Ways It Won’t)
For years, the media warned me that artificial intelligence would soon take over my job. Several years later, I’m somehow still here making a living as a writer, perhaps because AI can’t always do its job well .
Obviously, AI can’t take on the role of a parent either, but I was curious how technology could help me with a job I don’t get paid for: being a father to two cool kids. I started doing some research and discovered that there are many practical applications of AI in the area of parenting. However, there are also some things that AI can supposedly do that made me think twice about what this innovation is capable of.
Here are some smart uses of AI to help you with your caregiving responsibilities, as well as others that, as my seven-year-old likes to say, seem a little “meh.”
Use AI for: Dialogue prompts.
Let’s say you need help starting a meaningful conversation with your child, or you’re trying to figure out how to begin a sensitive topic. In this case, AI can be a useful tool to start the discussion. However, it is very important to remember that AI is just a tool: don’t expect your child to open up to you just because you used a script generated by a computer program. You need to actively participate and check the suggestions that the AI makes and then use them while communicating meaningfully with your child.
Don’t use AI for: Advice for parents.
AI does not replace your role as a parent. While some tools, like Oath Care , are helpful for mothers in the early stages of child care, you should find the parenting style that best fits your family and your values. Because the AI does not know you or your child first-hand, the information and advice it offers may not suit your temperament or style.
Use AI to: Create bedtime stories.
As someone who makes up silly bedtime stories on the fly for my boys, I sometimes need help creating fun yarns to get them to sleep. You can use programs like Hypotenuse to write a story for you. All you need to do is provide some details to get started.
Don’t use AI to: Tell a bedtime story.
Children crave the unique touch that only a parent can provide in a bedtime story. They crave your voice, your expression of emotion, and your personal touch. No computer program can replicate this. It is your presence that gives life to words and captivates their imagination.
Use AI for: meal planning and recipes.
If you and your family are tired of takeout but don’t have time to plan meals, artificial intelligence can help. For example, you can use ChatGPT to generate meal ideas based on the ingredients you have on hand. According to this report , you can enter a few prompts into the free version to help generate breakfast, lunch, and dinner ideas for your family without searching everywhere for a recipe. However, it is important to note that these tools are not perfect and may not always provide the most appropriate meal options to suit your family’s preferences and dietary needs.
Don’t use AI for: Grocery shopping.
Reports say we are getting closer to the point where robots will be able to buy our groceries for us. Sounds cool, but as someone who frequently uses the Target app to order groceries, I currently can’t get a human to pick out the right ripe banana, and I doubt a robot can do it much better. Using AI to buy groceries also takes away the sense of discovery, meaning my kids and I may never know about a new product on the shelves.
Use AI to: Track your child’s progress.
Any pediatrician will offer many checklists to help parents track their child’s development. However, it may take some time for your child to be brought in for examination. For parents concerned about their child’s development, there are artificial intelligence apps that can track milestones in cognitive, social and language development. Some of them may even help detect autism at an early stage. Many of these programs have not yet been clinically evaluated, but they sound promising, so don’t take the results as gospel, but compile them to discuss with your pediatrician.
Don’t use AI to: Make important parenting decisions.
Using AI to save time or make better decisions seems quite reasonable. However, using this technology to help you decide whether it’s time for your child to, say, get a social media account or whether they should be homeschooled seems a little out of place.
An artificial intelligence program like Bottell may claim to offer personalized advice for you and your baby, but only you know what’s right for your offspring. AI is not a substitute for your own judgment and understanding of your child’s needs and circumstances.
Use AI to: Find games and crafts for your kids.
If a rainy day ruins holiday plans, parents can use Chat GPT to generate ideas for bored kids. Ask the program for ideas for games, science experiments, puzzles and crafts that families can do at home. You can even ask him to give them an educational focus so that the kids can learn something while having fun.
Don’t use AI for: playing with children.
They want to play with you, not the computer.
Use (and don’t use) it for: Tutoring.
This is a difficult call. While Sal Khan, founder and CEO of Khan Academy, shared his belief that AI could be used as an educational tool to teach children around the world in a popular TED talk , The Wall Street Journal found that his educational bot AI-based Hanmigo often failed to do this. t do basic math. A company spokesperson told reporter Matt Barnum that updates have been made to improve the bot’s accuracy.
If you don’t remember how to solve a math problem your child is facing, you can ask the AI to help you describe how to solve the problem, but given that Khan Academy stresses to educators that the technology isn’t perfect, you may not yet have to. double-check numbers and formulas in your children’s homework.