Is AI raising a generation of ‘tech-reliant empty heads'?

Metro

a day ago

It began with snide looks and remarks and ended up in full-on bullying with 11-year-old Sophie* coming home from school one day in tears.
When her mum asked what was wrong, she discovered that Sophie's friends had turned their backs on her, leaving the little girl feeling confused, bereft and isolated.
'I noticed the way they were talking to her on the weekend; just being cruel and asking her pointed questions about what she was wearing and why,' Sophie's mum, Ella*, tells Metro
'When she went back to school on the Monday, one girl had got the whole group to stop talking to her. Sophie went to sit down on the table at lunch, and they all got up and moved.
'These are girls she'd grown up with. Later in the playground, they told her: 'Sorry, we're not allowed to play with you' and walked off.'
While Ella and her husband did their best to support their daughter, Sophie was growing increasingly anxious and eventually turned to an unlikely source for advice.
'Sophie had seen me use ChatGPT to help write emails, so she started to have a go. Using my phone, she asked how to deal with bullying, how to get more friends, and how to make people like her.
'At first I was a bit alarmed because you can ask it anything and it will give you answers. I was worried about what she wanted to know. But it turned out Sophie found it a real comfort,' remembers Ella.
'She told me she could talk to it and it spoke back to her like a real human. She would explain what was going on and it would say things like: 'I hope you're okay Sophie', and 'this is horrible to hear.' I had to explain to her that it's not real, that it has been taught to seem empathetic.'
Ella admits she was surprised that ChatGPT could prove a useful tool and was just grateful that her daughter had found an outlet for her anxiety.
And while adults may be equally impressed and daunted by the unstoppable march of artificial intelligence, one in five under-12s are already using it at least once a month, according to the Alan Turing Institute.
It means an increasing number of primary-age children are growing reliant on AI for everything, from entertainment tp emotional support. However, although many parents like Ella might feel it's a help rather than a hindrance, a new report, Me, Myself and AI, from Internet Matters, has discovered that children are often being fed inaccurate information, inappropriate content and even forming complicated relationships with chatbots.
There's also fears over the long-term impact it will have on children's education with kids – and parents – using it to help with homework.
One teacher from Hertfordshire, who has been asked to remain nameless, had to throw out one child's work as it had clearly been lifted straight from Chat GPT.
'It was a 500-word creative writing task and a few hadn't been written by the children. One of them I could just tell – from knowing the child's writing in class – it was obvious. They'd gone into chat and submitted it online via Google Classroom.
'It was a real shame. I think it can be useful but children need to be taught how to use it, so it's a source of inspiration, rather than providing a whole piece of writing.'
Fellow educator Karen Simpson is also concerned that her pupils have admitted using AI for help with homework, creative writing, project research and language and spelling.
The primary and secondary tutor of more than 20 years, tells Metro: 'I have experienced children asking AI tools to complete maths problems or write stories for them rather than attempting it themselves. They are using it to generate ideas for stories or even full pieces of writing, which means they miss out on practising sentence structure, vocabulary and spelling. And they use it to check or rewrite their work, which can prevent them from learning how to edit or improve their writing independently.
'Children don't experience the process of making mistakes, thinking critically and building resilience,' adds Karen, from Invervness. 'These skills are essential at primary level. AI definitely has its place when used as a support tool for older learners but for younger children, it risks undermining the very skills they need for future success.'
Mark Knoop's son, Fred, uses ChatGPT for every day tasks and admits he's been impressed by what he's seen.
As a software engineer and the founder of EdTech start up Flashily, which helps children learn to read, it's unsurprising he might be more open to the idea, but Mark firmly believes that artificial intelligence can open doors for young people when used with adult guidance.
He explains that after giving his son, then seven, his tablet to occupy him while he was at the barbers, the schoolboy used ChatGPT to code a video game.
'Fred has always been into computers and gaming, but with things like Roblox and Minecraft, there is a barrier because systems are so complicated. When I grew up with a BBC Micro, you could just type in commands and run it; it was very simple,' Mark tells Metro.
'Using ChatGPT, off his own back, Fred created the character, its armour and sword and wrote a game that works. It is amazing to me and really encouraging.'
A scroll through Fred's search history shows how much he uses ChatGPT now; to find out about Japan and China, to research his favourite animal – pandas, or to identify poisonous plants. He also uses the voice function to override the time it would take to type prompts, and Mark has seen how the model has protected Fred from unsuitable content.
'For his computer game, he wanted a coconut to land on one character's head, in a comedy way, rather than a malicious one. But ChatGPT refused to generate the image, because it would be depicting injury. For me, ChatGPT is a learning aid for young children who have got lots of ideas and enthusiasm to get something working really quickly,' he adds.
Other parents aren't so sure, however. Abiola Omoade, from Cheltenham, regrets the day she bought a digital assistant, which she thought would provide music and entertainment, but has instead hooked her primary age sons' ever-increasing attention.
'I bought them a wall clock to help them learn to read the time. But they just ask Alexa,' the mother-of-three says with irritation.
Abiola encourages reading, is hot on schoolwork and likes her sons Daniel and David to have inquisitive minds. But she's noticed that instead of asking her questions, they now head straight for the AI assistant, bypassing other lines of conversation and occasionally getting incorrect answers.
'Alexa has meant they have regressed. My son Daniel, 9, plays Minecraft, and he will ask how to get out of fixes, which means it is limiting his problem solving skills. And where they would once ask me a question, and it would turn into a conversation, now they go straight to Alexa, which bothers me as I know the answers aren't always right, and they lack nuance and diversity. AI is shutting down conversation and I worry about that.
'They ask Alexa everything, because it is so easy. But I worry the knowledge won't stick and because it is so readily-accessible, it will affect their memory as they aren't making an effort to learn new things. I fear that AI is going to create a generation of empty-heads who are overly reliant on tech.'
Tutor Karen adds that the concern is AI often denies children of important tools that they need to learn from an early age.
'For younger children, the priority should be building strong, independent learning habits first. Primary school is a critical stage for developing foundational skills in reading, writing, and problem-solving. If children start relying on AI to generate ideas or answers, they may miss out on the deep thinking and practice required to build these skills.'
Meanwhile, AI trainer Dr Naomi Tyrell issues a stark warning. The advisor to the Welsh government, universities and charities cites a case in which an American teenager died by suicide shortly after an AI chatbot encouraged him to 'come home to me as soon as possible.'
'Cases like this are heartbreaking', Dr Tyrell tells Metro.
'There are no safeguards and the tools need stronger age verification – just like social media. Ofcom warned about AI risks to young people in October 2024 and while the UK's Online Safety Act is now enforceable, there really needs to be more AI literacy education – for parents as well as children. We know children often learn things quicker than us and can circumvent protections that are put in place for them.' More Trending
And just like the advent of social media, the pace of change in AI will be so fast, that legislation will struggle to keep up, Naomi warns.
'That means children are vulnerable unless we consciously and conscientiously safeguard them through education and oversight. I would not recommend that under-12s use AI tools unsupervised, unless it has been specially designed for children and has considered their safety in its design
'We know what has happened with safeguarding children's use of social media – laws and policy have not kept up despite there being significant evidence of harm. Children's use of AI tools is the next big issue – it feels like a runaway train already, and it will have serious consequences for children.'
*Names have been changed
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