How to Navigate AI Use Among Youth

On Monday, we explored bad AI ethics lessons. Today, we’re flipping them into real solutions. Earlier this week, we explored really bad ways to teach students ethical AI use (remember the “make ethics a paid elective” -- yikes 😬). Today, let’s flip those missteps into real strategies that empower students to engage with AI responsibly. 1. Make Ethics a Conversation, Not a One-Time Event Instead of a single lecture, embed discussions about AI ethics across subjects—debates in history, case studies in English, or real-world AI dilemmas in computer science. Ethics isn’t static, and neither should our teaching be. 2. Teach Students to Question AI, Not Just Use It Encourage students to challenge AI-generated outputs. Who created this data? What biases might be present? Just like media literacy, AI literacy requires skepticism and critical thinking. 3. Use Real-World Ethical Dilemmas Forget abstract policy documents—bring in relatable examples! Should AI write a college essay? Can an AI-generated image win an art contest? These discussions make ethics tangible and engaging. 4. Balance Risks and Opportunities Avoid fear by equipping students with frameworks for making responsible choices. Encourage open conversations about the risks and rewards of AI, so they feel empowered, not just policed. 5. Make Ethics a Right, Not a Privilege Ethical AI use is essential. Schools should provide all students access to meaningful AI ethics discussions, not limit them to a specialized curriculum corner. 6. A Bonus! Stacy Kratochvil's addition on Monday (which was a real one!): "Offer a 45 minute AI workshop during a “choice block” on a PD day and put it up against basketball in the gym, art with the ceramics teacher or free time to work in classrooms!" Flipped--Try to Make It the Main Event: Instead of competing with basketball and free time, schedule AI PD as a core session during the structured part of the day. When it’s positioned as essential—not optional—more teachers will engage, and the learning will stick. Your Turn: What’s working in your school regarding teaching students ethical AI use? Let’s share strategies. #BadBrainstormMonday #FlipItFriday #EthicalAI #Education #Leadership #GenerativeAI

Are We Raising a Generation of "Artificial Identities"? What is the hidden cost of AI? AI is transforming how we learn, work, and present ourselves but at what cost to our youth’s authenticity and growth? Key Points To Consider - - Rise of the “Artificial Identity”: Young people are increasingly using AI to polish their résumés, essays, and portfolios, often at the expense of genuine skills like curiosity, accountability, and perseverance. - Impressive Facades, Hollow Skills: Many candidates appear ideal on paper but struggle with original thinking, initiative, and problem-solving once hired. - Shortcuts Undermine Growth: When students use AI to bypass effort, they miss out on the cycle of struggle, feedback, and self-discovery that forges real identity and resilience. - Critical Human Skills at Risk: Over-reliance on AI can erode essential abilities such as emotional intelligence, critical thinking, and authentic engagement—traits that AI cannot replicate. - Education Must Evolve: We must shift from rewarding polished outputs to valuing real-world challenges, adaptability, and leadership; the very skills that set humans apart from machines. 📊 Fun Fact . . . AI can pass psychometric tests, but it can’t lead teams, adapt in real time, or build trust. These are uniquely human strengths that must be cultivated, not automated. 🔥 Let’s champion authenticity over appearance. ✅ Educators, employers, and parents need to prioritize real growth over AI-generated perfection. ✅ Challenge youth with tasks that require emotional intelligence, teamwork, and resilience. ✅ Redefine success: value communication, collaboration, and leadership over flawless deliverables. Guide the next generation to use AI as a tool to amplify their true voices. True leaders aren’t built by shortcuts. source: Sarat Chakravarthi’s insights on the rise of artificial identity in the age of generative AI: https://lnkd.in/epdDpk-e #ai #education #leadership #parenting #leadyouth #future

Bracing for the pressure to help your kids navigate everything from social challenges to academic demands to healthy lunch prep for another school year? What’s different this year? AI is better equipped to help. I mean this. As a parent, there is a LOT to say about AI and school, but there’s an angle we don’t talk much about: AI can help parents to help their kids with day-to-day challenges. This post was inspired by one of my clients, a CMO with three kids under 12. We had worked together on using AI to boost her strategic thinking and decision-making . . . and then she asked if we could take it more personal. She knew I use AI in every aspect of my life, including my parenting. She explained that one of her kids was dealing with big problems in her friend group: the social dynamics had changed over the summer and her daughter felt caught between friends—it was making school days toxic already. She asked me how to use AI to help her support her daughter in navigating this on her own. We took the same approach we did when using AI to help develop new market strategy or uplevel campaign development. She gave AI a role, she shared her thinking and concerns directly and authentically, she asked AI to help her understand the problem better, break it down, and develop different options. Then she went home and sat down with her daughter to talk about the AI conversation. Her daughter then had her own dialogue with AI (mom hadn’t gotten the nuances quite right) until she felt like she knew what to do (this included gaming out some language to use, how that language might come across, and how to sequence the conversation with her friends). My client felt better equipped to help her daughter after developing her own thinking with AI. A week in, the daughter reports she is making progress, but most of all both mother and daughter share that the process made them better understand the problem and what to do about it. AI can serve as a thought partner to help us think through ANY kind of problem we face. As a parent, I’ve used it to help my kids: ▶ Develop personalized study tools to understand concepts they struggle to grasp ▶ Get different viewpoints to help them work through a problem they didn’t know how to address ▶ Come up with healthy meal plans and shopping lists (mine are old enough I send them to the store on their own) ▶ Deepen their thinking about how their interests and skills might be useful to a future employer Parenting is my favorite job I’ve ever had—I love it, I take it seriously, and I believe I am good at it. While AI is complicating our children’s world, there is another angle to consider. AI has absolutely helped me be a more thoughtful and empathetic parent (after a few embarrassing misfires in the early days—I’ll share those later!). I’ll be sharing more on how to Think with AI to boost cognitive performance + creativity, and exploring the opportunities and challenges of this moment in AI. 🔔 Follow me to follow along! 🔔