Children will likely be the ones to first figure out the technology’s advantages and drawbacks.
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Readers of this newsletter have no doubt wondered how the generative-AI wave will affect their lives. Will the bots take your job? Is it all right—you know, ethically—to use ChatGPT to write an email? Should you listen to Google’s searchbot and eat rocks? (No.)
But while adults ponder such questions, many kids are already experiencing a full blast of generative AI. It’s in popular apps such as Snapchat and Instagram; it’s coming to iPhones and Chromebooks. In a recent story for The Atlantic, my colleague Caroline Mimbs Nyce wrote about how tech companies are creating a generation of “AI guinea pigs.”
“More than a decade on, adults are still trying to unravel what smartphones and social media did—and are doing—to young people,” Caroline wrote. “If anything, anxiety about their effect on childhood and mental health has only grown. The introduction of AI means today’s parents are dealing with multiple waves of tech backlash all at once.”
The concerns are understandable, of course. But AI may have benefits for young people: Los Angeles Unified School District—the second-largest public-school district in the United States—is embracing the technology in the classroom. As its superintendent, Alberto M. Carvalho, told Caroline, “AI is here to stay. If you don’t master it, it will master you.”
A Generation of AI Guinea Pigs
By Caroline Mimbs Nyce
This spring, the Los Angeles Unified School District—the second-largest public school district in the United States—introduced students and parents to a new “educational friend” named Ed. A learning platform that includes a chatbot represented by a small illustration of a smiling sun, Ed is being tested in 100 schools within the district and is accessible at all hours through a website. It can answer questions about a child’s courses, grades, and attendance, and point users to optional activities.
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P.S.
Speaking of kids and technology, the surgeon general recommended earlier this week that social-media sites receive a warning label—similar to those seen on tobacco products—over concerns that they might have negative effects on adolescents. Caroline wrote about the idea, which is much more complicated than it may appear: “A warning label on a pack of cigarettes is attention-grabbing and succinct: No one wants cancer or heart disease. Social media does not boil down as easily.”
— Damon
