Brandon A. BakiParent guideFor parents and families
AI at home: a guide for parents
Your child is learning to use artificial intelligence well – and to question it. Here is what that looks like at school, and how you can help at home.
What your child learns at school
- How AI works
AI learns patterns from data, so it can sound sure and still be wrong.
- Building with AI
Planning a task, asking clearly, testing the result and improving it.
- Judging what AI says
Is the answer correct, incorrect or unclear – and how do you know?
- Using AI responsibly
Bias, privacy, giving credit, and who is responsible for what AI does.
Ask your child
- What did you use AI for this week – and what did you do yourself?
- How did you check its answer was right?
- Has an AI ever given you a wrong or unfair answer?
- When is it better not to use AI at all?
- Can you teach me something you learned about AI?
The right tool at the right age
- Many AI chatbots set a minimum age – often 13, some higher, some with a parent’s permission. Check each tool’s own rules.
- With younger children, use AI together on a shared screen.
- At school, students use only tools the school has approved.
Homework and honesty
- Each assessed task has an AI level set by the teacher, from “no AI” to “AI as a partner”. Ask which level applies.
- If AI helped, your child should say how.
- AI that does the thinking takes away the practice.
Privacy at home
- Never share full names, the school, an address or photos with a chatbot.
- Treat chats as public: they may be stored and reviewed.
- Use the privacy settings; turn off chat history where you can.
Signs of leaning on AI too much
Spot one or two? Talk about it, and tell the teacher – it is common, and fixable.
- Can’t explain how they got an answer
- Work arrives finished, with no drafts
- Won’t start without asking AI first
- Accepts answers without checking
- Less confident working alone