Raise Kids That Can Defeat Robots
6 Ways To 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)
How To Raise Future-Proofed Kids
Ever wonder…geez, life is tough; I can’t imagine what it will be like for my kids?
I don’t have a crystal ball, but things have changed a ton since I was a kid, and I can only imagine that life will look pretty different when our kids grow up.
One of the common characteristics of successful adults is that they’re comfortable with failure and mistakes.
Here’s why.
Success in life is about learning from mistakes.
Chamath Palihapitiya, the controversial billionaire with a rags-to-riches story, said, "life's success is how you control your mistakes. The way you control your mistakes is by making a bunch of mistakes.”
Mistakes are jet fuel for success.
We learn through mistakes because each mistake reduces the number and severity of future errors until we know what is needed to succeed.
As our kids get older, the world around them (including us dads) expects them to make fewer mistakes and yet this is an inherently flawed mindset.
Think about how mistakes lead us to some of our greatest discoveries in life.
Some questionable dating mistakes are how we found our +1.
Mistakes are what lead to thriving new businesses.
Mistakes have uncovered breakthrough products, services, and nuclear fusion.
A culture of mistakes is how our kids become confident and entrepreneurial lil’ badasses ready to tackle whatever the future holds.
So how do we make mistakes as much part of our family tradition as cheering for our favorite football team?
Here are three ways you can start today:
1/ Make mistakes a side dish at dinnertime
Ask your kids how they failed each day (check out the Art of Family Dinner Convo blog).
You, too, can participate by letting your kids know which mistakes you made that day.
“Kids, I thought Scam Bank-Fried was a philanthropist and lost a mound of dirty fiat on the FTX crypto exchange.”
Do this around the dinner table each night to make it routine.
Then ask them what they learned from their mistakes.
By making it part of dinner each day, your kids will learn a tradition of valuing mistakes.
2/ Celebrate mistakes
Treat mistakes as gifts. Celebrate them.
Mistakes are a gift because each one is newly acquired knowledge.
Do this by going a little deeper once your kids share their mistakes. They may even have failed several times that day.
Ask them which mistake was their favorite and why.
Ask them what they learned from their failure.
Celebrating mistakes by talking about them will make them a part of your family tradition.
3/ Don’t throw the flag and penalize
It's easy to think not all mistakes are created equal.
But I would argue it is important how we handle all mistakes, even mistakes that seem blatant or no-brainers, like when my son wakes up in the morning and douses our toilet like an unmanned garden hose.
My instinct is to be like, “SON! You suck at pissing! Sit down next time”!
It is easy for me to default to anger or shame for intentional (taking the base screws out of dad’s office chair) or no-brainer (pissing all over the toilet seat) mistakes.
But this is where a tradition of mistakes can start to erode.
It would be better for me to acknowledge that his aim isn’t good quite yet, and until he learns to hit the bullseye, he will need to clean it up and go back to sitting when pissing.
Our challenge to you:
The ability to embrace mistakes is a key to raising kids that can handle whatever the future throws at them.
Start by making mistakes a tradition by serving them daily at the dinner table. Celebrate them, and don't penalize mistakes, even no-brainers.
Let's get out there and push mistakes like weights (ode to the great poet Ice Cube).
How to support your baby’s brain growth
How to support your baby’s brain growth and other ways to connect to shape future proofed kids.
Have you ever wondered how to raise a baby genius?
When your child was a newborn, did you bask in the glory of comments like, “she’s so alert for her age!”
Whether you admit it or not, we all secretly prize intelligence in our children from an early age.
Like every dad with their first baby, I gazed into the eyes of my sweet little nugget looking for signs of brilliance.
I convinced myself that our son had potential for greatness when he locked eyes with me as a newborn and smiled.
Oh wait. That was just gas.
Nevertheless, I knew one of my most important jobs as a dad would be to nurture my child's growing brain as much as possible.
So naturally I hit Google hard with the mission to throw some dollars at the right toys, books and gadgets.
Anyone out there know “Baby Einstein” products? Yeah…I do too.
After getting past the nervous jitters phase of first time parenting.
And upon shelling out some serious dough on eco-friendly, wooden, no light, no sound, no battery toys, I came to a thrilling conclusion…
While these gadgets do have some benefit, I discovered I already had the answer, no additional purchase required. Thank goodness.
Disclaimer: this isn’t a technique that will help you raise MENSA certified geniuses. That is just nature, not nurture. This is rather about nurturing our kids to their fullest potential.
The answer...Peekaboo.
Disappointed? Don’t be. Read on.
A baby’s brain makes over 1 million neural connections EVERY SECOND. The first 5 years of life are the most important (and fastest) phase of brain development.
So how does peekaboo help?
The Answer: Serve And Return
It forms a SERVE and RETURN interaction between you and your baby, which turns out is just what your little one is craving.
No, not a classic Agassi vs. Sampras match…
Serve and return is what science-y folks at Harvard say is the best way for parents to shape their child’s brain architecture (fancy word for building healthy brain development).
A baby’s brain is rapidly building connections (neural pathways). These pathways control everything from our emotions to our decision making to how we think about the world.
Healthy pathways are created or strengthened when your baby cries, babbles or reaches (the serve) and we engage (the return). The return might be making eye contact, giving a facial expression, talking, playing or laying on a hug.
Now, we won’t always be perfect and sometimes our kids might send over an ace (we might miss the serve). But in order to be active in your child’s brain development, we must try to return most of the serves (note to self…put the phone down).
So how much should we be practicing serve and return?
We must do this EARLY and OFTEN.
I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking damn I don’t do this enough with my baby.
But hold on.
You probably do without realizing it. This doesn’t have to be perfect. It really just requires that you be present with your child and soak up their adorable selves.
Molly (one of the youngest Ted speakers ever) notes, in her great Ted Talk, that games like copycat, naming and peekaboo build critical brain connections starting right out of the womb. Supporting important brain growth that will help our kids make friends, take tests, get jobs and one day be great parents.
The challenge to us: Be ready and present, put away our screens and engage on the court of child interaction. Do this EARLY and OFTEN (as much as you can). And remember the more SERVES we RETURN the more growth we will both experience. And our children will thrive by five.