Have you ever wondered what makes your child’s stories so special? The other evening, my daughter—at that magical age where imagination rules her world—was building an elaborate castle with her magnetic tiles. She proudly showed me a tower that was leaning precariously. “Appa,” she announced with total seriousness, “this is the secret cookie-smuggling tower for the unicorn queen!” It was a bit wobbly, but it was perfect. It was her story. Later that night, after she was asleep, I came across a news headline that made me pause: ‘AI hallucinations’ could trap you in costly lies. The article was about adults using AI to write their resumes, only for the AI to invent achievements and fabricate skills—basically, to tell a story that wasn’t true. And I couldn’t help but connect that cold, corporate warning with my daughter’s warm, wonderful, cookie-smuggling unicorn tower. Both were fictions, but one was a lie, and the other was the beautiful, messy truth of who she is. It hit me: in this new world, our most important job as parents might be to teach our kids the difference.
The Super-Smart Intern That Sometimes… Makes Things Up
You’ve probably heard about this, right? This whole ‘AI hallucination’ thing sounds like something out of a sci-fi movie, but it’s shockingly simple. It’s when you ask an AI to do something, and it tries so hard to please you that it just… invents stuff. The news article talked about a job seeker who sent out an AI-written resume without checking it, and then in the interview, couldn’t explain the incredible things she had supposedly accomplished. OOF. Can you imagine?!
It’s like having a super eager, speedy helper. You ask it to plan a family trip, and it might book you a five-star hotel on the moon. It sounds impressive, but it completely misses the point of who you are and what you actually need. The AI doesn’t have our memories, our inside jokes, or the quiet knowledge of what makes our family tick. It has data, but it doesn’t have a heart—which is why authentic stories matter more than ever in this AI age.
And that’s the real story here. The research shows that AI can be a fantastic helper—one study found that getting AI help with spelling and grammar made applicants 8% more likely to get hired! That’s AMAZING! It’s a powerful tool for polishing our work. But the danger zone is when we hand over the pen completely. When we let the tool stop being a helper and start being the storyteller. Because a resume, a school project, a piece of art… it’s supposed to be a story about YOU. Your journey, your struggles, your wins. When we let an algorithm write it, we’re handing over our own narrative—a real narrative that only we can tell.
Finding Our ‘Son-Mat’: The Taste of a True Story
This whole thing got me thinking about the pressure we all feel, and the pressure our kids will face. In a world that often feels like a race for the best grades, the best specs, the best everything, a tool that promises a perfect, polished result is incredibly tempting. We want to give our kids every advantage, every leg up. It comes from a place of pure love! But what are we accidentally teaching them if we encourage them to chase a flawless story that isn’t truly theirs?
Just like how a meal kit can never replace the warmth of a home-cooked meal, AI can’t replace the unique touch of our kids’ creativity. It reminds me of cooking. Sometimes, for a quick weeknight dinner, we’ll use a meal kit. It’s got all the ingredients perfectly measured out, the instructions laid out step-by-step. It’s efficient and helpful. But it never tastes quite the same as when my mother would make her stew, would it? She cooked with love, with instinct, with what we call in Korean, son-mat—literally, the ‘taste of the hand.’
THAT is what we need to help our kids cultivate. Their own son-mat. Their unique voice—their authentic voice—their quirky ideas, their hard-won skills. AI can provide the pre-measured ingredients—the research, the grammar checks, the outlines. But our kids must be the chefs. They have to add their own flavor, their own perspective, their own truth. That’s the part no algorithm can ever generate. It’s the part that makes them, them. And frankly, it’s the part that the world desperately needs.
How Can We Be AI Co-Pilots for Our Kids?
So, what does this look like on a Tuesday afternoon after school? It’s not about banning technology. That ship has sailed, and it’s a beautiful, powerful ship! It’s about changing how we engage with it, together. It’s about moving from a place of fear to a place of joyful, guided exploration. We get to join them on this adventure, guiding and exploring together!
We’ve started doing this little thing at home that has been SO much fun. My daughter, who is just getting comfortable writing a few sentences on her own, will sometimes ask our home device to tell her a story. The AI will spit out a perfectly structured, but usually pretty bland, tale. Instead of just leaving it at that, I’ll jump in with explosive excitement: “WOW! What a great start! But wait… what if the princess didn’t want a prince? What if she wanted to be an astronaut who builds rocket ships out of her favorite snacks?! What happens NEXT?!”
Her eyes light up! Instantly, she’s grabbing crayons, telling me about the astronaut-princess’s space suit, and the story becomes wildly, wonderfully HERS. We’re using the AI as a launchpad, not a destination—encouraging her authentic storytelling. We’re teaching her, in the most playful way possible, that these tools are here to serve her imagination, not replace it. We’re building her confidence to take an idea and run with it, to trust her own weird, brilliant, cookie-smuggling-unicorn-tower instincts.
The Only Story That Truly Matters
Walking my daughter the 100 meters to her school this morning, the autumn air was crisp and cool. We weren’t rushing. We had time to notice the way the sunlight hit the changing leaves. In that small, quiet moment, I felt a wave of hope. The future isn’t something to be afraid of. Our kids are going to grow up with tools that will help them explore and create in ways we never imagined. And we get to guide them on that journey, helping them find their own unique voice.
Our challenge, and our absolute privilege, is to raise kids who know their own worth and can use these tools with wisdom and integrity. We want them to look at an AI-generated answer and say, “Thanks, but I’ve got my own story to tell.”
Because their story—with all its messy, imperfect, illogical, and beautiful details—is the only one that truly matters. And I can’t wait to see the incredible, unique stories they will share with the world. Stories that are truly theirs, filled with their own experiences, their own dreams, and their own heart.
Source: Is ChatGPT writing your resume? Experts warn ‘AI hallucinations’ could trap you in costly lies and ruin your job hunt, Economic Times, 2025-09-15