In my latest book, I describe my early interactions with a rudimentary 1990s AI program called Dr. Sbaitso. This was back in the days of dial-up internet, so this “doctor” was far from a fluid and sophisticated conversation partner. The voice was robotic, it took forever to generate answers, and the program rarely delivered the… Read More →
“That’s probably just AI,” my youngest said, pointing at an image that looked a little too perfect to be real. “How can you tell?” I responded. “It just seems like it,” he shrugged. On one hand, this skepticism is an asset in a digital world where the line between human- and AI-generated content continues to… Read More →
I remember watching the 2013 movie Her, where a man named Theo develops a relationship with an artificial intelligence operating system, and feeling two contradictory things at once: incredulous (“This could never really happen”) and uneasy (“This seems like it really could happen”). Fast forward twelve years, and my second impulse was right. We’re closer than ever… Read More →
When our kids are little, we get a lot of data about their lives. We know their friends, what they ate for lunch, and which show they want to watch on repeat. I remember sometimes wishing for less data when my youngest’s preferred safety spot was in my lap, facing me, with both hands clutching… Read More →
Mark Zuckerberg turned toward a group of grieving parents this week and issued a public apology. “I’m sorry for everything you’ve been through,” he said. “No one should go through what you and your families have suffered.” This latest admission at the Senate online child safety hearing was not the first time that Zuckerberg has… Read More →
“I need you to get going!” I told my middle schooler. This reminder came at the end of instructions about what-to-do-next in the unstructured day ahead. My pre-teen, more engaged in a podcast than my game plan, didn’t budge. I considered increasing volume, providing more information, or adding in some exasperated sighs for emphasis. Before… Read More →
“Here is what I know I don’t want,” a high school junior recently shared. “ A summer of scrolling. A little bit is fine – you know, to just relax and check out for a bit. But I don’t want to get lost there all summer.” This young person’s reflection comes at just the right time for… Read More →
“I am just going to delay as long as I can,” a parent recently shared with me. She added, “I just don’t even want to deal with social media until high school.” “Yes, I can relate,” I replied thinking of my own middle schooler at home and my intermittent impulses to move deep into the… Read More →
To say that there is a lot of attention right now on teenage social media use is an understatement. Yet all of the attention hasn’t necessarily produced a clear and coherent path for parents. Instead, we continue to experience significant whiplash between headlines that say, “Screen time is fine!” on one hand, and, “Screen time… Read More →
“I know that I want to raise an independent kid who eventually goes off into the world,” a parent recently shared. “But I just don’t like this in between part.” “What part?” I asked. “Oh just the part where they wrench themselves away from the family,” they replied laughing (in that way that might turn… Read More →
