Raise Kids That Can Defeat Robots
Dads, have you ever thought, damn, Terminator is looking less like fiction?
Undoubtedly the future will look like some version of the Jetsons…full of robots.
Robots, or what we commonly refer to as Artificial Intelligence (AI), have caused more buzz than the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.
The hype has been chiefly about OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
What is ChatGPT?
First, AI stands for Artificial Intelligence, and it's like a robot brain that can think and learn on its own.
And ChatGPT is a special kind of AI that can talk and write, just like you and me.
So imagine Pinky is like a regular person, and he wants to know something. But instead of asking the Brain, he asks ChatGPT. And ChatGPT can find the answer for him really fast, because it's really smart.
Just like how the Brain always has a plan to take over the world, AI and ChatGPT have a plan to help people with all sorts of things, like talking to a doctor, or helping with school work.
[ChatGPT’s answer when prompted to explain ChatGPT like Pinky and The Brain]
ChatGPT can draw up contracts, craft blogs, write code, pen essays, and pass exams.
ChatGPT could even get an elite MBA from a Uni like Wharton.
A Wharton MBA professor recently gave ChatGPT their course exam, and it beat students, scoring a B.
If you think that’s impressive, ChatGPT passed the US Medical Licensing exam.
And coasted to a pass on the Bar exam (lawyers betta be scared).
Educators worry that cheating will spread faster than the latest TikTok dance trend, stoking fear that AI will make many things we know today obsolete.
So much for Waylon Jennings' advice:
“mamas, don’t let your babies grow up to be cowboys…let’em be doctors and lawyers and such.”
So what?
The opportunity might be in what we value and how we teach our kids, so they don’t get replaced by robots.
This tweet from Neil deGrasse Tyson (Astrophysicist) sums it up well.
If parents and educators, continue to value grades over learning, we are destined to raise kids that robots can replace in the job market.
Well, how can an exhausted, maybe non-techie, dad raise the John (or Sarah) Connors, that can defeat SkyNet (not get replaced by robots)?
Here are the 6 things I’m doing and you can do today:
1/ Get familiar with AI
You don’t have to be a genius or techie to use AI.
ChatGPT is free, and interacting with it is as easy as typing in questions.
There’s a fun website that lets you type in any word and creates an image from those words. This AI tool is called DreamStudio.
Try it out. Have fun. This is only the beginning.
2/ Raise kids with traits that AI will not easily replace.
Creativity, empathy, critical thinking, and communication (a big topic for a future blog post).
There are many ways to do this but to put it simply, model and encourage these behaviors through your own actions.
Think “monkey see, monkey do.”
And encourage them to; pursue passions like the arts, solve puzzles, name and discuss their emotions and find their favorite storytellers so they can read and learn to tell stories.
3/ Expose them to AI early
Use ChatGPT to explain a topic. Use a prompt like this:
Explain [Insert Complex Topic] like [Their Favorite Cartoon Character] to [Grade level].
Example of a prompt I might use:
Explain nuclear fusion like paw patrol to a preschooler.
Nuclear fusion is like when the Paw Patrol team works together to save the day. Just like how each pup has a special skill and job, the tiny things inside atoms called nuclei have special properties and when they work together, they can make a bigger and stronger atom. This process is called nuclear fusion and it's what makes the sun shine, and it's also what scientists are trying to do in special places called fusion reactors to make clean energy. Just like how the Paw Patrol team works together to save the day, Nuclear fusion can make a lot of energy for us to use.
Explore together. Let your kids ask the questions. Discuss where it is right and where it does not explain things fully.
4/ See AI as a power tool
Ok, so imagine you’re building a skate ramp for your kids.
You could use a handsaw but damn, you will be there for hours. Instead, you pull out your Dewalt battery-powered circular saw.
This is how we should think of AI. It can help us work faster and better while saving us from some serious pain (dem’ shoulders get sore for days in your 40s)
Need to draft an email to an upset customer...use AI.
Need an icebreaker or good “no fail’ question to start a meeting…use AI.
Want to draft a rental contract for a new tenant…see where I’m going with this?
One emerging trend for using AI as a power tool is promptcraft.
Promptcraft is like being a woodworker and using power tools to aid in crafting a beautiful piece of furniture.
The woodworker knows that the joints and the finish make the piece beautiful, so that’s where they spend most of their time learning and focusing.
Promptcraft uses AI to make quick and accurate cuts so you can spend your time on the joints and the finish to get a beautiful piece.
5/ Explain to them how AI is already improving lives
I work in healthcare, and we’re using AI to make doctors' and nurses' jobs easier by finding diseases that even a trained eye might not catch.
It is also helping find patients that might be at risk so they can get treatment before things get hopeless.
But it doesn’t stop with healthcare. Tesla and self-driving cars use AI to make roads safer by making decisions way quicker than distracted drivers (get off your phone).
Next time you see a Tesla on the road, make a note to your son or daughter and mention how the robot in the Tesla is making the roads safer for all of us.
6/ Value learning over grades
Grades might have some value, but learning is the key to life. Praise the act of trying, failing, reflecting, redesigning, and retrying.
Hell, instead of sitting at a desk. Play hooky (a post on this topic) with your child to learn something. Go to a museum, learn a new sport, or take a class on a new practical skill.
Try something, try anything that focuses on the act of learning.
Takeaway
We, dads, have a big responsibility, to make sure our kids don’t get replaced by robots.
It starts with us learning about and embracing AI as a power tool that can make life better.
Pick one of these things and start today. Your kids’ futures will depend on it.
“I’ll be back….”(said in my best Arnold voice)
