Kids, AI, and the Strange Gift of Simplicity
What my kids are doing with AI
This New Year, I wasn’t trying to teach my kids “AI.”
I was just trying to spend time with them.
What surprised me was how naturally AI became a bridge instead of a barrier.
My older daughter doesn’t really talk to AI yet. She types. That’s how her world works. She loves that something answers back. It’s friendly. Encouraging. It listens. It doesn’t judge. And maybe most importantly—it doesn’t rush her.
When I showed the kids voice-to-text, it felt like magic. Suddenly the computer wasn’t a keyboard anymore. It was a presence. A conversation. A helper.
My son, who usually avoids drawing or explaining himself, decided he wanted to design a game. Inspired by Substacker Yorch Torch Games and old-cartoon chaos like Krazy Kat, he came up with a story where a mouse throws bricks at a cat, the cat dodges, a police officer tries to restore order, and power-ups appear at just the wrong time.
It was ridiculous.
And it was brilliant.
ChatGPT mapped out a three-month daily plan to build the game.
But the real surprise wasn’t the plan.
It was that my son sat down and drew.
For three straight hours.
Characters.
Actions.
Intent.
No pressure.
No grading.
No “you should do it this way.”
Just momentum.
Then life interrupted.
New Year’s.
Gremlins 2.
A fever that changed plans.
The next morning, my daughter wanted her turn.
Not a story.
Not a game.
A puzzle.
She talked to AI about images. Hit limits. Switched tools. Learned—without being told—that different systems do different things. She described a beach. A sunset. Palm trees. A little girl.
When the image came back, she smiled.
“This is beautiful.”
Then she stopped.
“I want to draw it myself.”
That was the moment.
With kids, unlimited options don’t create freedom.
They create confusion.
They don’t want power.
They want clarity.
They want presence.
I suggested SpongeBob doing a hula dance. She laughed. We tried it. Then she wandered off and started creating on her own—quietly, confidently, without asking permission.
That’s when I realized something important:
AI didn’t replace imagination.
It removed fear.
It didn’t do the work for them.
It gave them a place to begin.
And the real lesson wasn’t about prompts, tools, or models.
It was about patience.
About sitting next to your child while they decide whether to use the machine—or trust themselves.
That’s not AI time.
That’s parent time.
And that’s the best use of technology I’ve seen yet.
More to come…
As AI starts being incorporated in our lives
Stay tuned tomorrow to my adventures finding a gym and Sunday the investment thesis on them
Eric
