AIBU to say AI will completely change how we parent and live?

[Ellis12]

I’ve been experimenting with AI tools recently (like ChatGPT and others), and it’s honestly been a game-changer for managing household stuff, helping with schoolwork, meal plans, even emotional support during tough days.

But it got me thinking are we at the start of something huge? Will AI end up changing how we raise our children, do our jobs, and even build relationships? AIBU to feel both excited and a bit nervous about how fast it's all happening?

Curious what others think, especially parents juggling a million things!

I don't think so. Whilst parents still have to persuade their kids to get up, encourage them to spoon cereal into their mouth, chivvy them to get dressed, check they've cleaned their teeth or washed behind their ears, put the right uniform on, potty trained them, changed nappies, cuddled them, checked them for nits, comforted them after they've tripped over, calmed them before exams, talked them through friendship woes, I think they won't be replaced anytime soon! Same with many jobs.

Yes, you can use AI for meal planning etc though and it might be helpful.

I'm a bit confused by what you mean by ai will change how we raise our children.

I do my best to be present with my kids. I play with them, look after them, set boundaries for them etc, just like millions of other parents. I don't see what role ai has to play?

I can see scheduling and meal planning (though to be honest cooking isn't hard once you know how and have built up your favorite recipes) but what other jobs are you going to hand over to ai?

You mention emotional support. My first reaction to that is to think: the day I need an ai to give my child emotional support is the day I've failed as a mother.

Ai will change how we work, maybe how we find love etc but I really hope it doesn't change how people parent. Children need human connection to thrive.

I don't think anyone knows how society will be changed. Technology tends to have unexpected consequences.

How did the invention of the internet and of mobile phones/tablets change parenting? It has changed us in many ways but not in ways anyone predicted

Aside from meal plans maybe, which I find of no use anyway, how does AI help with the things you mention?

I don’t think I’ve ever used AI, wouldn’t know how to.

I don’t understand how it will change “parenting”?

I have been using chatgpt lately for things like meal plans, calendars, planners, viewing DIY changes to the house. I find it better than Google when researching.

Other than meal planning and calenders, I'm not sure how it will help me with parenting.

I was wondering if it might be the death knell to the internet. I used to watch videos of cute otters. Now they're probably ai. So no more otter videos for me. Most social media posts are probably ai too. The info on websites will be ai. What is the point of the internet at that stage?

Yes it will OP.

Imagine a world where humans, even the most brilliant, talented and experienced individuals, are the least intelligent minds in the room. A world where knowledge has no value, because infinite knowledge is available, immediately. A world where virtually every electronic device is more intelligent than we are.

There may not even be any schools as we know them because knowledge will no longer be necessary to remember. Your children's lives will change, the old way of school, college, job, will no longer be appropriate. Even jobs may no longer be needed in the sense that we understand.

AGI, that is the state where a computer is able to think, reason and communicate as we do, is likely less than a decade away. We have no word in our language for how disruptive this technology will be. And no idea of the consequences.

Take a look at Boston Dynamics current android on YouTube, consider Atlas or Tesla Bot, now imagine them with an AGI operating system. This will happen sometime around 2030. We will then have limitless, salary free, 247 capable human replacments. What use will people be then in terms of employment. This isn't some far fetched conspiracy theory. This is real, it's happening, it WILL happen.

Think of the invention of the airplane. The right brothers first flight was in 1903, by 1916, we had dog fights in fighter planes over the trenches of WW1. In terms of aviation, A.I is at the Biplane stage. But thr jet fighter and Concorde are only five years away.

Yes @Ellis12 I agree. It will change everything.

People will always be doing the manual jobs though they are irreplaceable with AI.

Because your child will have access to infinite knowledge without any possibility of parents being able to control access.

Also you won't be able to adequately prepare them for adult life because you won't know what that life will look like.

@Chiseltip agree and as an expert on this I heard on radio said " no intelligent species allows itself to be ruled by a less intelligent species,".
It will definitely affect teaching because it will also be able to deliver bespoke content according to the specific needs of the class.

It’s dreadful for the environment so I avoid it at all costs. Plus dumbing down!

Parents definitely control access to the internet and therefore to chatgpt. Do you have any idea how many predators are lurking on the internet ready to take advantage of children? Why on earth would you give them free access??

As to your second point, it's true that we have no clue what the job market will be like and so can't properly prepare our kids. However, the usual skills of resilience, social interaction, healthy living, problem solving and so on will still be useful even if humans end up living on Mars.

You won't be able to avoid it though.

I'm convinced it's going to decide that we are the problem and we'll be exterminated, no bad thing for planet earth it has to be said

I disagree strongly with your first paragraph because the intelligent minds will be the ones who can assess the device's 'knowledge' for accuracy. Read anything produced by AI that you truly understand and it is always full of inaccuracies.

The AI we have access to (ChatGPT, etc.) is a stripped-back, baby version of what is already out there and available to big tech companies. The models we have access to are inaccurate sometimes and do need more "training." The models big tech has access to can train and check each other, and are far more powerful than the consumer versions. They still need training, but they are progressing rapidly.

Quantum computing is also being developed rapidly, which will basically put AI on crack. Imagine a computer that can solve a mathematical problem that would take the world's current most powerful supercomputer millennia to crack in mere seconds. That is what quantum computing can do. Now, imagine running an AI model on a quantum computer.

The world of work is going to look very, very different in the next decade.

we could get the ai helper you see in films, on a screen in every room reminding the DC to do everything that you usually do.
I guess it could replace the parent in reading together.
And in emotional support, talking through issues, etc.
Maybe this is a good thing, some people are poor parents and having ai read to the kids and reminding them to brush their teeth would be an improvement.
It could probably do a better job at safety too, can watch young kids at all times.

It will certainly change the world of knowledge work and therefore the schooling. There is absolutely no need for kids to be memorising facts or learning how to solve mathematical equations these days. Schools will need to spend much more time on teaching critical reasoning and how to verify facts and news.

Its coming, need to change with the times I'm afraid.

Bit of a side point, but I'm not sure I'd trust an AI to choose what food I eat. Maybe it's different if you have a giant family, but is meal planning even that hard? You buy food, you cook food, then you buy more of food you've run out of. Do we really need AI to do that?

How to use AI for emotional therapy and how does it differ to using Google for a meal plan or help with a homework question @Ellis12

When we're running low I photo the meat and veg drawers in the fridge and ask it to suggest a meal. We chat about the options it gives and substitute ingredients I don't have. It's very handy tbh.

But yes could just plan better!

It wont be of use to everyone but for me, it gives me fresh ideas when I get stuck in a rut or want something different.

Onchatgpt, I can do up a printable meal plan for the week and it will also give me the recipes and shopping list. One less thing for me to think about.

The world of work is going to look very, very different in the next decade.

I wonder how this will help my role as a teacher any more than my role as a parent.

I teach a class of 30 KS1 children. AI might be able to help me with a bit of planning, but that's not really what takes all my time up. Will it be able to deliver 4 different levels of teaching and adapt it for the children with SEN? Will it be able to put the child who needs a hoist in it, take them to the toilet and wipe them afterwards? Will it know when the two non-verbal children have soiled and take them off to be changed? Will it soothe the child with a cut knee and administer first aid and decide if the parent needs to be phoned? Will it spot early signs of dysregulation in my pupils with ASD and know they need a sensory break? Will it tidy the home corner after wet play and change all the reading books correctly? Will it do playground duty for me and organise trips? Will it ring the parent of a child who seems really unsettled after a holiday and try to gently unpick what we can do to help.

If the idea is all 30 of my class will ultimately not need me as they will all be plugged into a computer that will meet their needs, then

A-good luck getting the WiFi to work in my room.
B-good luck trying to find 10 laptops that work and hold charge, let alone one for each child in the school.
C-good luck getting them to do all of the above
D-good luck getting the kids not to just walk away

That's also a really crap existence for our future children as well.

Are the meals it suggests any good? I've often tried recipes off the internet that aren't very tasty.

@howshouldibehave of course, some jobs will still exist in ten years, I imagine teaching will be one of them, but all jobs will be impacted by AI.

AI can't do playground duty or first aid (yet), but it can do lesson plans, do interactive teaching, plan and mark homework, mark exams, create schedules, etc.

It can also tell your IT team how to solve your wifi issue and source and order budget laptops. It can manage the school's budget, so there is more money for wifi access points and laptops.