Is AI good for kids?

Our stance is that a good teacher is better than the best technology. The tools for success are, fundamentally, a healthy childhood and a set of skills developed independently from machines. Don’t be pressured by AI mania. A child needs human contact to learn and grow.

The debate tearing at teachers and school managers is how much AI, if any, should be integrated into teaching. Parents are also torn: should they pressure schools into being hyper-modern and on trend, or request protection for their children from even more screen-time?

The first essential point to consider is this: AI is not a neutral debate. That is, we aren’t coming at the discussion on equal terms. The loudest voices on AI are tech companies & salesmen profiting from their products getting into schools. Education is a cash-cow. Securing a business deal or tender is big bucks!

There are vested interests in forcing parents and teachers to adopt every tech product ever invented. The promise is always that it enhances learning. The threat is always that failure to do so means robbing children of a future. It’s blackmail.

And it’s not true.

By and large, technology is a distraction for children. It disrupts focused learning.

Herein lies the problem: society expects education to be entertaining. Anything perceived to be boring, repetitive, serious, or time-consuming, is deemed outdated. Ill-suited to the future.

The pressure on schools to gamify lessons is immense. We have to always create “engagement”. In other words, fun. All the time. Keep them busy, but make things easy.

And then we wonder why we’re seeing declining literacy, memory deficits, attention deficits, the inability to problem-solve, and a lack of resilience.

Here’s the truth about learning:

“The obstacle is the way”.

AI removes obstacles, smoothing the path to the answer. The outline. The calculation. The drawing. The measurements. The research. The essay. The steps in the process of figuring stuff out are flattened.

Prompting, clicking, swiping and copy/paste are NOT educative. This all bypasses the tough cognitive work that comprises learning.

We undervalue the humble pen and paper, and memorisation and repetition, at our collective peril. How does a person remember song lyrics? By listening to it, and singing along, hundreds of times. How does a football star score world-cup winning goals? They have practised kicking that ball into a net thousands of times. How does a surgeon successfully remove a brain tumour without paralysing a patient? They have spent YEARS working on this part of the body: the same anatomy, over and over. Laser-focused work over time, encompassing learning off-by-heart, repeated assessment, repeated practice, supervision and collaboration. No short-cuts.

• Competence and mastery requires offline time.

• No matter the interests a child has, regular, in-depth reading and writing, will scaffold their brain sufficiently to absorb all kinds of challenging data.

• Working with text and numbers in real time, away from a screen, builds educational resilience. Music, art, the environment and sport, are just as important. None of this requires AI. It does, however, require the real intelligence of skilled adults.

It’s also been touted that chat-bots will help kids’ debating and communication abilities. This is a dereliction of the duty of care. Outsourcing child and adolescent development to a simulation, instead of providing adequate personal interaction with caregivers, counsellors, mentors, coaches, and teachers, is immoral.

What about the future? Don’t children and teens need AI to get ahead?

Our view is that marrying kids to screens and tech for their whole lives, is unfair and cruel. This is not a recipe for getting ahead, but for anxiety, addiction, loneliness, and stunted growth in every respect.

They will forever be wired, and never know the freedom and empowerment that comes from being able to function independently of a machine.

It’s not just the intelligence of being able to do long-division, but to draw or paint, write a story, speak to a crowd, play an instrument, read a book, climb a tree, build something - anything small or large that depends on agency, on their own ideas, their own words, their own designs, their own thinking, their own everything. Especially their own struggle to figure it out. Just like hiking a glorious mountain instead of riding the cable-car. Which is more impressive? Which is more satisfying? Which builds self-esteem?

This is not to advocate for suffering in the education journey. Far from it. It’s to advocate for enabling a child or teen to grasp learning with both hands. To be active in the process, and not be lulled into false accomplishments by the illusions AI gifts its users.

AI is an imposter.

AI is not what we think it is - a trusted service to make life easier. No. It’s an interference. It enriches faceless organisations, steals time and data, tethers us to screens, prevents offline interactions, sabotages employment, and imitates learning - thereby, preventing true intellectual savvy.

Your child needs a teacher who doesn’t believe in shortcuts. A real, in-person teacher who values real connection and real teaching. Who is prepared to plan lessons, teach lessons, evaluate work, and give you real feedback. Who cares about your real child.

Teachers: your students need tried-and-tested methods. They need your expertise. They don’t need your blind adherence to the latest tech toy on the market. They need you to fight for their whole-brain health.

If nothing else, they need you to read them a story. With a real book, using your real voice. At least do this.

If you have any comments or corrections on this topic, or any others raised in TTL blog posts, please email: www.teachertraininglab@gmail.com.