AI could hit children ‘like a freight train’ warns the boss of a children’s non-profit advocacy

• AI technology going to be a “huge issue” in kids’ lives, the boss of a children’s non-profit advocacy told CNN.
• Jim Steyer told the network that AI will transform education for children.
• Parents need to get comfortable with AI platforms to manage their use in their kids’ lives.

The development of AI is so rapid that it will hit the next generation hard, warned Jim Steyer, the CEO of Common Sense Media, a non-profit research and advocacy organization focused on children and families.

“ChatGPT and AI is coming down the tracks like a freight train. It’s going to be a huge issue in our kids’ lives,” Steyer told CNN on May 10.

AI will transform education for children as it allows them to write essays and conduct research far more quickly than using current search engines, he told the media outlet. Parents also need to get familiar and comfortable with ChatGPT and other AI platforms to be able to manage its use in the lives of their children, he said. 

“Parents are really concerned that kids can cheat with it, could become too dependent on it as opposed to doing the work themselves,” Steyer told CNN. “So, we are going to have to make sure that as these major new AI platforms like ChatGPT come into massive use, that there are clear rules that schools know how they’re being used.”

Steyer’s comments came amid a broader debate over AI’s impact on all aspects of society, following the technology’s rapid adoption after OpenAI’s ChatGPT bot went viral.

And Steyer isn’t the only leader concerned about the impact AI may have on children.

On Tuesday, Elon Musk also expressed uncertainty over how AI would influence his children’s careers.

“How do we find meaning in life if the AI could do your job better than you can? I mean, if I think about it too hard, it can be just dispiriting and demotivating,” Musk told CNBC’s David Faber in an interview.

The Tesla and SpaceX CEO said he would just tell his children — he has nine known kids — to “follow their heart in terms of what they find interesting to do or fulfilling to do, and try to be as useful as possible to the rest of society.”

Common Sense Media did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment sent outside regular business hours.