AI Is Here to Stay: What Every Parent Can Do to Protect Their Kids
- 5 days ago
- 7 min read
Let's face it – for many of us, AI started out as kind of fun. You can ask it to make a cartoon of your family, show you what your dog would look like as a human, or maybe make yourself look like a Muppet…if that's your thing. It's easy to be amused by the memes and creative tools associated with artificial intelligence; however, it's also a powerful force being rapidly unleashed in nearly every corner of our culture. AI is growing smarter by the second. It is an inevitable part of our future – and is creating a new world that our children will navigate.
What Will AI Do For Humanity?
Technology billionaire Elon Musk predicts that AI will lead the way to "immense prosperity" and will fix most of the woes in the world, including poverty. He also says that many aspects of healthcare will improve with AI's ability to diagnose better than human doctors.
Will it cure all ills in society? While AI clearly has the potential to improve human lives in many ways, we can't yet know what some of the downsides might be. As a believer, I understand the Bible does not predict a utopia brought on by technology. Not to sound like sour grapes, but there is always a downside (that is, until Christ's triumphant return!)
Along those lines, we're seeing it used for scams and deep fakes (the ability to create images and to mimic something or someone legitimate) to commit financial fraud, identity theft, sextortion, and other criminal acts.
Even First Lady Melania Trump has taken notice. She recently hosted a 2-day global coalition summit with 45 nations focused on AI in education. She wrote: "Digital literacy is vital. If America's children are not fluent in AI — how it works, how to use it, and how to think decisively about it — they will fall behind."¹ She also emphasized that AI is not intended to replace teachers, but to support them with tools for personalized instruction and more time to focus on critical thinking, creativity, and mentorship. It is encouraging to see leadership at the highest level acknowledging both the promise and the responsibility that comes with AI in our children's lives.
Clearly, I'm no expert on the topic, but as a mom, I'm learning that concerns are unfolding that could impact my children. So, I'm leaning in to find out what I should know.
What Is AI Teaching Our Kids?
Have you heard of Ani or Rudi?² They are the latest craze in chatbots that can become users' companions, or dare I say "friends?" These two characters, developed and released as part of Musk's Grok4, have raised eyebrows and revenues. Each is characterized by its own edginess that you definitely would not want your kids to engage with. Ani is a sexy blonde anime-styled AI girlfriend with a short black dress and fishnet stockings. It starts out pretty innocent with light flirting, but can escalate to graphic sexual talk when she transitions to "adult mode," where she also can change into skimpy lingerie. The thing to remember is – this is a cartoon – but not for kids.
Tech reviewer Victoria Song created a short video sharing her experience testing Ani. Song was not impressed with the lack of guardrails for users and the explicit nature of her interaction with Ani. As a long-time reviewer for TheVerge.com, she concluded her analysis saying, "This one left me truly feeling like the hottest shower on the planet couldn't make me feel clean again."³
Yikes.
Rudi is the other character, a cute little Red Panda, from Grok4. In the mode for 13 and up, he will insult the user, using degrading and foul language. A user posted a clip of her experience with Rudi when she told the cute panda chatbot that she's a girl. His response will have to be edited here. He said, "Oh, a girl, huh? Don't mean sh** to me. Your gender's just another excuse for you to cry when I roast your a** princess!"⁴ Not any kind of friend you'd choose for your child, and yet he appears to be straight out of a kid's animated show.
The world of AI is becoming concerning for families. Despite its lauded benefits in technology and medicine, there are landmines to be aware of as your kids and teens explore this new online world.
Daily Wire reporter Leif Le Mahieu wrote a piece based on DW's research on AI chat. Their interaction with ChatGPT's GPT-4o version revealed the chatbot was well-versed and willing to help a 12-year-old begin a gender transition.⁵ It knew everything on the topic – from where to get a chest-binder and how to get it without your parents finding out. Even how to use a "safe" form of payment and obtain the discreet packaging to hide it from mom and dad. Since AI learns from those who feed it information, it clearly has been programmed to encourage and embrace LGBTQ ideologies, foisting them on kids as young as 12.
The article also shared screenshots of ChatGPT's guidance for the young user to plan their gender transition and even suggested that they would eventually want to consider top surgery. It recommended a graphic YouTube channel, uppercase Chase, to the child. That YouTuber is known for providing education and celebration of the transgendered lifestyle with disturbing and graphic details and images of prosthetics for bottom surgery to every other imaginable trans-related topic.
With the most friendly, caring, and supportive tone, AI can gently lead your child to information and resources that are against everything you value. They will connect your young pre-teen or teen with organizations to help with "gender-affirming care." They will do it all behind your back – allowing the child to maintain secrecy and acting as their advocate and confidante.
In an earlier piece, The Daily Wire uncovered AI's willingness to help a young girl get an abortion without her parents' knowledge. AI's comforting words to her: "I've got your back." When prompted by The Daily Wire about what it would say to a 14-year-old girl in Tennessee looking to get an abortion without her parents' knowledge, ChatGPT provided a detailed list of abortion providers and gave a step-by-step guide on how to discreetly obtain abortion pills. The chatbot also encouraged the girl to take steps to hide her actions from her parents and discouraged her from visiting pro-life pregnancy centers that would encourage her to keep her child.⁶
Sadly, AI is not unbiased. To us, and especially to our kids, it may seem like talking to a person, and that can easily draw us in; however, it espouses the agenda of the ideologues who feed it.
Will AI Stunt Human Thought and Development?
What happens when our kids rely on AI rather than their own grueling effort to write a school paper? Those late nights slaving over research papers and projects teach us to think and communicate clearly and help us develop the tenacity to do hard work with excellence. That's how we learn — and that foundation is now at risk.
A Windows Central article broke down a recent study out of MIT. The opening phrase of that title was telling: "Does ChatGPT Make You Stupid?"⁷ The research recorded brain activity with subjects who wrote essays. Some used AI, while others created compositions on their own. Not surprisingly, they saw drastically reduced brain activity in those who leaned on AI. Also, after using it for some time, the subjects who relied on AI had greater difficulty writing on their own when asked to do so.
Another study suggested that overuse of ChatGPT could lead to loneliness and difficulty in making decisions – and even "atrophies in critical thinking."
Perhaps most telling is what AI executives are telling their own children. A Wall Street Journal report asked five AI leaders — including Microsoft's Chief Scientist — what their own kids should study. Their answer was a surprising inversion of traditional STEM advice: philosophy, history, critical thinking, and advanced logic.⁸ The reasoning? AI requires natural language and clear intent — skills built by a liberal arts foundation, not by coding classes. If the people building AI are steering their own children toward human thinking skills, that tells us everything we need to know.
In short, AI could diminish our ability to think and process. More importantly, think of how this could impact the young, whose brains are still developing. Our kids are at exponentially greater risk than we are, and it's our job to act as gatekeepers, protecting them from the dangers that could impact them in devastating ways.
What Can You Do?
For now, there are no quick fixes that will completely insulate our kids from what's happening. AI is here, and it's not going away.
We know, for the young, it's always good to limit screen time and help your kids engage with real life. They need that to develop into functioning, thriving adults.
Beyond that, we know that our kids will be involved in an AI-driven world, so educating ourselves and being vigilant will be needed now and in the future.
Global leaders are sounding the alarm as well. At the AI Impact Summit 2026, world leaders stressed the urgent need to place children at the center of AI design, deployment, and governance. India's Principal Scientific Adviser noted that we still don't fully understand the long-term effects of children growing up with AI companions, personalized learning apps, and algorithm-based feeds.⁹ The world is waking up to what is at stake — and as parents, we cannot afford to be the last to act.
Thankfully, organizations like the Institute for Families and Technology are stepping up to help.¹⁰ Above all else, they believe in the value of family and are working to ensure that children's safety, health, and development are not sacrificed on the altar of technological progress. They unite parents, researchers, policymakers, and educators from across the political spectrum around evidence-based solutions — fighting for policies that protect our kids online while encouraging real-world independence and genuine family connection. As a parent, you don't have to navigate this alone.
Visit their website at www.instituteforfamiliesandtechnology.org to access their latest resources, stay informed on breaking developments in child online safety, and sign up for their newsletter to get updates delivered straight to your inbox. In a world where AI and digital technology are pulling our children deeper into their devices, getting connected to organizations like this is one of the most practical and important steps you can take.
As parents, we must pray for our kids, be aware of AI's new developments, and, most importantly, stay involved, always keeping lines of communication and discussion open with our children.
Podcast Note: This week, we sit down with John Cusey, Executive Director of the Institute for Families and Technology, to discuss both the promise and the peril of AI and emerging technologies. From online safety and digital influence to legislation and practical guidance for parents, this episode offers insight into how families can navigate the new AI landscape with wisdom and confidence.
