Parenting in the AI Era

What is with the buzz regarding AI & what can we do to help the kids in our lives be successful in an uncertain future? Listen in to the top three traits every parent/guardian/mentor should know, as well as an important one most people aren't talking about. 

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KeisaB 0:05

Hi, and thanks for joining. This is Keisa B, and let's get into parenting in the AI era. I Have you all noticed? Like me, that there's been a lot of buzz around artificial intelligence and how we strategically can start planning for the next five to 10 years. And it just seems that that rhetoric and that discussion has been intensifying a lot lately. I think that is because the technology has increased and is increasing. And there is no denying that there will be an impact, uh, to our current societal structures, how we engage with each other, the job market economics that will happen as AI continues to. Create tools for us to use every single day like we continue to use today. I was counting to mark off and list all of the things that I use AI for today. I use AI for my, in my smartphone, number one every day. In multiple ways. I think every application now is like, oh, we now are using AI or some type of form of, uh, intelligence to add to your user experience. And I am like, yes, I will absolutely use some parts, hopefully of it, maybe not all of it, but some parts of it. Um, for my every day. So you have your smartphone. the smart watches and I know that there's a lot more smart watches that are being used, um, for our kids. I know a couple kids, they turned right that end of elementary school age 9, 10, 11 years old, and they've. Are getting smart watches so that they can text with their friends, they can better communicate with their parents. Maybe you, give it to your kids so that you can track them where they are a little bit easier. tracking your kids is a great way to, if an emergency does happen, So we have our smart watches, we have our smartphones, we have our Google Home kits or Apple Home kits, or any other smart devices around our home that we say, Hey, do this for me. As in play music. Hey, can you turn on the lights here? So the buzz around generative, artificial. intelligence and trying to plan for the next five and 10 years has intensified. It's intensified for people who are anxious about jobs and job loss, and how can they pivot and find something that possibly. They can continue to do as, uh, there's more efficiencies that are being placed and in different job markets right now. And with efficiencies, It could possibly mean that there has to be a job shift and we just learn new skills or hone into skills that we already have. Um, but there's also no denying that. There will be an impact on other societal structures as well. How we engage as humans. I love being able to chat with someone one-on-one in real time and not have it be that we are having to use technology to do so. I love having to do that so. I can see that there will be continuing to be shifts as we build more relationships. And some people it's not relationships as in with quote unquote relationships, but these are, um, dialogues, uh, trust that they're building with technology and not since the dawn of the industrial revolution. Will those jobs and education and government and services undergo such a profound shift, but just like we as humans have gotten through those shifts In the past, we will get through this as well. And we have to continue to remember, it's all about us understanding what is coming or what, how can we continue to pivot so that we can also prepare our kids and not think, oh, what type of jobs do they really need to focus? What things in school or experience can I provide for them? It make a difference and I know that's what a lot of us just really wanna do is continue to make a difference in this world. One thing about having a kiddo that I love is I am directly impacting the future by that one person. 'cause you never know the opportunities that that one person or people. Because you have a number of kids or kids that you mentor or that you're around because your family members, what you say ,do ,and experiences that you might give them actually might influence the rest of the world in how we continue to change. So just like we tell our kids to be kind and kindhearted and to love and to the education and reading and maths and history is so important for us to learn. Also, there might be some other attributes and traits and values that AI is gonna force us as humans to really hone in on to make sure that we continue to strive and be the best people that we can be on this planet. like many things, slow and steady influence will then seem as if it has always been. So just because right now we might feel like everything is so intensified, it usually is gonna be a slow progression, and I want us to all think. About that 'cause it, for me, it just, it really made me take a breath and take a beat and relax a bit. Understanding that it's been a slow and steady pace with our smart devices so far. Everyone might have a cell phone today, but again, that came years and even decades in the making. And sure technology is moving seemingly fast now, but for adoption and for it to really change, we have some time and I think having these conversations are so important. So thanks again for joining me today and being part of that dialogue in the comments and with your friends and family because it will make a huge difference. So with every software update, AI becomes an everyday part of our lives and continues to reach the world far and wide. There's places where as the internet continues to be introduced, they will have these capabilities. years ago, I remember talking to my parent about the drastic changes ahead I was about to make a huge pivot. I was about to take a step back in the job market. Away from marketing and events and things that I had done for so many years and focused primarily on being a parent and what I like to call CEO of my household. I was gonna be a homemaker. I was gonna have my full-time duties be the primary caregiver of aj. Looking back on that, I was also in an HR role and had noticed a lot of change that was going on in the hiring process because of the amount of technology that was coming through, because of the job market. It was already shifting and that was over seven years ago. So these things definitely had been making a shift way back then in having these conversations. So we, both, my parent and I, we both had, have had business backgrounds and working for a number of corporations, um, nonprofit entities, um, et cetera over the years. And one thing we started to notice from hiring trends, HR resource papers, and understanding the strengths of AI was that emotional intelligence was the differentiator. It was the factor that was so prominent between what human traits and values we're really gonna shine through and What AI was already starting to take over. What AI's really good at is coding numbers, things that it can do over and over repetitious jobs, things that are pretty much mindless. We really don't need to use our brains very much to do that. Those are what AI was already starting to take jobs over, and it will continue to get better at those things. Filing systems, coding and building out algorithms even. Like the manufacturing jobs that you were talking about before with a robot. Those things will continue to function and what we can do is become smarter intellectually, but emotionally in particular, because that is what drives us to be so different. So as we continued our chats and research, critical thinking also was top of the list, something that we do that is separate any other animal, as well as what we can do so much better than AI right now is think through all the different scenarios, not think all through other scenarios, but also how is that going to affect. That person because of their socioeconomic background or because of the history based on these things and come to a resolution. Those are the things that we noticed were definitely traits that were being looked at. And the last one was creativity as well. We are extremely creative species and thinking machines will never be able to be as creative as we are because we dream. And for those who are like, oh, you're getting, you know, different, you're getting on an emotional, um, outer plane, uh, hippie dippy, whatever you wanna call it, but it's real. And that's what makes humans real. And that's what makes us separate than robots or separate than thinking machines. And that's what I'm gonna continue to call AI as it gets into the A GI phase as it's becoming a thinking machine. But we'll never have that creativity because our human experience is what brings the creativity to what we do. And so knowing those three things, um. Emotional intelligence, critical thinking and creativity. They're uniquely human traits. And it didn't really surprise us that those were the ones that were kept coming up all the things that we were finding. And do you find those things as well while you are doing your research or when you're connecting with a human versus just typing out on even social media, knowing that there's so many bots out there, you start to be like, that seems kind of dry and odd or weird and lacking. You're not really listening to anything that I'm saying. I wonder if that's an actual human, because one thing that we do as well and continue can do and learn is, listening skills. So those uniquely human traits, they didn't surprise us. The top educational cultures and institutions have been crafting minds with these principles since the likes of Ptahhotep of Egypt, or Socrates of Greece And those things are what? top educators in places like Harvard, Yale, even private schools are teaching kids today because those human traits. Always made us stand out when they have those. as parents, what can we do? parents raising kids in a non-traditional manner because no society, even the most homogenous on the outside are truly, that's just not reality. That there aren't differences, Neurodivergence, sexuality, gender identity, just because those aren't being said doesn't mean they're not there. Beliefs and understandings because people are still critically thinking, even though they might not say it, they still are. So how are we going to be raising our kids and, and as we are raising our kids in a non-traditional manner, we are already exemplifying where humanity will be. And we'll have to arrive for us as humans to continue to thrive. An article in Open Tools, AI highlighted Sam Altman's view on parenting in the AI era, and it said, is your child ready for 2025? I'll bite, what does it say? But with AI rapidly automating routine tasks. The focus of education is shifting towards developing creativity, critical thinking, and emotional intelligence areas where AI is not yet a match for human ability. Sam Altman's insights suggest children will grow up in a world where technological fluency is a baseline expectation. Necessitating a reevaluation of educational paradigms. Preparing children for an AI dominated workforce means emphasizing, adaptability and lifelong learning, ensuring they can navigate the profound shifts AI is expected to bring. That is exactly what everything that I had been reading and looked into and possibly you had been reading and looking into for almost a decade. it has been highlighting that we as parents need to emphasize adaptability and a lifelong learning. And instilling certain traits that will always be human traits first, and that is creativity, critical thinking and emotional intelligence. Hmm. So the most that we can do is spend time together. We can continue to have undistracted time with our loved ones and in our communities, talking, laughing, expressing these too are genuinely human traits that will transcend and influence the younger generation when they see us listening to each other, talking to each other in real life. In real time when they see us experiencing things together, going on holidays together, traveling to other cultures, experiencing other religions, building up resilience and adaptability because you have to be adaptable when you go and travel to other places that you're just not familiar with. How do I navigate the streets? How do I, Use mass transit if you're not used to that, how do I get on a bike or have to walk, find the nearest store? That when I need to have something for my kid while we're traveling, like a medication or a certain type of dietary need. Because building up emotional intelligence and adaptability happens with human engagement. That's what I'm reading here. That is what I've experienced and that is what I'm talking about when I'm out at playgrounds. And if you think that you can't find that in your community, then branch out, explore on your own. Because your kids ultimately learn a hell of a lot from us before they learn from their peers and that is what builds a human existence. Every podcast, every book, every other thought and leader enthusiast is talking about from the CEO to open AI to, Geoffrey Hinton, which is considered the godfather of ai. They're vocal supporters of regulation of ai, but they also agree that these common attributes vital to humans thriving will also be the ones that will influence education and jobs in the future. So what do you do every day? You can feel the void with asking each other to share the funniest moment that we had recently when we're sitting down maybe at dinner, with no judgment on what's shared. Just sharing those ideas, or ask the question about a favorite place to travel if you could go anywhere. 'cause that also leads to creativity. So there's also an aspect of social capital, and I think that will become even more of a precious commodity to be looked at, especially on a more worldly level as we continue, because social capital as defined is. Part of our human capital. So it includes education and social connections. And on that social level, we could think of it as also our communities, our social norms, our institutions. I guess if you want to even open it up, what it traditionally referred to it is a civilization, and so the more that we continue to emphasize the importance of our human capital and our social capital versus just the. very tangible assets that we have, like financial assets or those wealth building assets, we talk a lot about. I think the emphasis is gonna be even more on how our human capital and our social capital can help a very precious commodity of how we build relationships in real life and those social aspects so that we continue to network and get to know more people for them being themselves, but also for all the ways that we, as humans continue to barter and thrive and are happy in our society. I think one thing I took from all these things, and it's even more important to make it a priority to sit down, not just with other adults and network and set meetings and coffees, et cetera, but also with our kids and with the youth, no matter if it's a mentor, or if it might be someone like, a niece and nephew, anyone that you are connecting with, they need your undivided attention just as much as AI and technology or adults that you're trying to gain influence with will need, and that lesson really resonated with me more than any other focus I could ever provide for our kiddo would be to focus on those human traits and aspirations and even the social capital that we have as much as the education and learning specific, uh, coding skills or, um. how to work a computer because honestly, AJ knows how to work my phone better than I do. Let's be honest. Okay. Again, I'm Keisa B. Thanks for being here with me. leave a comment, share your thoughts on what you think are continuing to be, um, excellent parenting skills that we can learn to continue to pass on to our kiddos as. Much as things are moving and shaking in our worlds and be well.