Artificial Intelligence (AI) is everywhere, and it is quickly creeping into parenthood. Many people have mixed opinions about AI, but there are some safe ways to use it to help guide yourself as a parent. AI is helpful when it is used as a colleague, rather than a co-parent. You still need to be careful, double-check responses, and overall use your common sense when using the technology.
I grew up in a household where technology was always present. My dad worked for IBM, so we were one of the first of my friends to have a desktop computer in our household that we would use for games (any millennial parents screaming “Pong” at their screens right now?), homework, and learning how to surf the internet [insert dial-up connection sound right now].
Jokes aside, technology has advanced so much in my lifetime as a late 30s mom. I want my children to grow up using technology in an effective and, most importantly, safe way, as all parents do. I started using ChatGPT, Gemini, and a few others, both at work as a teacher and now as a parent. But how do I safely use AI as a parent to make my life just a little less chaotic?
Asking AI Questions About Books
I learned this trick as a teacher, but I don’t have time to read every book in my classroom library or even the endless amounts of books we have floating around our house. So, when one of my kids says they’ve finished a book, I use AI to create questions about the book for me to either orally ask them, or I will even have it create a printable that I can give to my child for extra practice.
Helpful hint: Be specific on the prompts. Provide your child’s grade level, the book title/author, and specify any questions you would like it to ask or connect to learning from school.
Boredom Beaters
This summer, we were sitting poolside, and all I wanted to do was read my book in that moment. But my kids were being silly and wanting my full attention. While I wanted to watch them jump in the pool a few times, we were going on about 50, and I knew I needed to change it up. I got on ChatGPT and asked it to give me 100 different ways to jump in the pool. The list was populated, and I was able to ask my kids to jump in like robots, ninjas, pirates on the plank, and superheroes, just to name a few. This was a blast for my kids, and it helped me create something quick to help entertain them in that moment.
Helpful hint: In your prompt, include your child’s preferences (e.g., TV shows, hobbies) to personalize the response.
Gift Ideas
Although I don’t mind the question being asked to me a few times a year, asking AI what great gift ideas are for teachers, family, and friends. Etc. is a great way to lighten the load around the holidays. I also like using this for PTSA events for teacher appreciation. Give it a theme and see if it can help populate ideas for your team to run with.
Helpful hint: ask for a variety of ideas, like experiences, gift cards, personalized, etc., to get a variety of responses.
Plan a Vacation
Using AI before and even during a vacation can help find a variety of ideas you may not have even thought of for planning a vacation. AI can help you determine where to go initially, plan a comprehensive itinerary for the amount of time you have, and while you’re there, suggest new restaurants, entertainment options, and more. On our recent trip to Spain, I asked it to find a kid-friendly paella restaurant in Valencia and it came up with amazing results.
Helpful hint: double-check the results. I have tested this with a 3-day trip to Indianapolis. It stated to go to the Children’s Museum on a Monday (which we Hoosiers know they are closed on Mondays) as well as go to two restaurants that were permanently closed.
AI isn’t perfect, and you need to be careful using it. Please do not use it for medical advice for you or your child, or even for mental health questions. Additionally, AI can be a slippery slope, so be aware of both the negative and positive impacts.
