Worried about your child’s AI use? I get it. We’ve all seen those little hands—the same ones that once held crayons—now typing questions into ChatGPT after school. But here’s what I’ve learned: Our job isn’t to shut it down. It’s to help them use it well, and sometimes, even let it show us what we’re already doing right.
The AI Homework Helper: Your Sidekick, Not Replacement
Remember showing her how to spread butter on toast? It’s not unlike the AI homework helper. My son’s favorite tool for tough math problems—but he knows I’m watching.
I tell him, ‘AI is for brainstorming. Understanding is for us.’ We sit together, reviewing the AI-generated steps, turning it into his own language. What if we saw these tools not as shortcuts, but as bridges to deeper conversation?
It’s teaching him the difference between quick answers and real learning—and honestly, watching that click for him is just the best feeling.
When Spilled Milk Becomes Better Data
Scientists say robots can’t learn without human-like feedback. But I’ve watched you, love. That evening when the soup bowl overturned—the way you didn’t reach for your phone.
You knelt down with our daughter, showing her how to balance the tray. ‘That’s how we learn,’ you told her. No AI could capture that moment.
The way you saw the opportunity to connect, not just clean.
It’s the same patience guiding how we let them use AI tools: not as a replacement for effort, but as a way to learn safe boundaries.
Scheduling with AI: The Hidden Time We Rediscover
Using Gemini to plan your schedule? That’s been our lifeline. But I’ve noticed something else—the way AI tools free up evenings for us to sit together.
Those 30 minutes saved from meal planning become the time when you tell them about your day, the way we laugh together. Like the way you taught them to stir the soup—the broth thickening, their hands getting steadier.
The AI schedules the tasks, but only you, my love, know how to make those moments warm.
The Unspoken Rules of AI Safety
We’ve set boundaries. ‘No ChatGPT in the bedroom.’ ‘We preview all AI videos together.’ But it’s not just about safeguards.
It’s about teaching that discernment—the same way you’ve taught them to measure the heat from a pot. The same way you know when to look up from the task list.
‘That’s enough,’ you’ll say. ‘Let’s go outside.’ I see the lesson in every glance: technology can be paused, but connection is always urgent.
Building the Future, One Kitchen Table Moment at a Time
AI researchers admit they’re still learning. But so are we. The other day, I watched our son ask ChatGPT for a poem. The reply was beautiful—but he glanced at the screen, then at me.
‘Dad, what do you think?’ It’s that moment. That’s where we’re the real experts.
The same way you’ve always known, when the toast is torn, that the most important lesson isn’t just how to spread the butter. It’s how to stay connected, even when things get messy. And that’s a connection no algorithm can ever replicate.
Source: Why Today’s Humanoids Won’t Learn Dexterity, Rodneybrooks.com, 2025-09-27