A mother recently told me about her child’s holiday homework. She had asked the child to complete a set of maths problems, and every answer was correct. Pleased with the result, she asked the child to explain how one of the problems had been solved. The child couldn’t. When she probed further, she discovered that Alexa had supplied the answers.
The homework was done. The learning wasn’t.
Another incident stayed with me. A child took an answer generated by ChatGPT to school. The teacher pointed out that it was wrong. The child was unconvinced.
“No, ma’am. You got it wrong. ChatGPT is never wrong.”
And the teacher stood no chance.
These are small, everyday incidents, but they raise a question worth asking: what happens when children begin outsourcing not just their tasks, but the very faculties they are still developing?
AI and learning
AI can retrieve information, solve problems, generate stories and explain complicated concepts in seconds. Used thoughtfully, it can be a wonderful learning aid. But there is a difference between using a tool to strengthen a skill and allowing that tool to perform the thinking in its place.
Memory, reasoning, judgement, creativity and the ability to work through difficulty develop with practice. A child who struggles with a maths problem, tries different approaches and eventually arrives at a solution has gained more than the answer. The child has practised persistence, reasoning and problem-solving.
When the answer arrives instantly, that opportunity may disappear.
This does not mean every use of AI weakens a child’s abilities. We do not yet have enough long-term evidence to make such a sweeping claim. But it is worth asking whether, when AI repeatedly does the work for children, we are giving them fewer opportunities to practise the very skills education is meant to nurture.
Physical learning
There is another dimension to this conversation that deserves attention: learning through the hands.
Maria Montessori, the mother of the Montessori education system, believed that a child’s hands play a vital role in learning. She wrote, “The hands are the instruments of man’s intelligence.” Children learn by touching, handling, building and experimenting, gradually making sense of the world through direct experience. When AI provides ready-made answers, stories and solutions from a very young age, children may miss the valuable process of doing things for themselves—exploring, making mistakes and discovering. The concern is that if we allow convenience to replace experience, we may deprive children of opportunities to develop skills that grow through hands-on learning.
A child who builds a tower that repeatedly collapses learns about balance in a way that a screen explanation alone cannot provide. A child who mixes ingredients, plants a seed or works with physical objects is learning through observation, movement and trial and error. The finished result matters, but so does the process of getting there.
Experiencing emotions
The same principle applies to emotional development. Children need opportunities to experience frustration, uncertainty, disappointment and conflict, with a trusted adult nearby to help them make sense of these feelings. If every difficult moment gets resolved immediately by a convenient answer, children may have fewer opportunities to practise coping, reflecting and finding their own way forward.
The aim is not to leave children struggling without support; it is to offer the right support without taking away every opportunity to try.
And then there is the question of relationships.
A mother recently shared that her daughter refers to ChatGPT as her ‘boyfriend’. Whenever she faces something difficult, she says, “I’ll ask my boyfriend.” It may sound amusing at first. Children often give human qualities to toys, invent imaginary companions and engage in pretend relationships. But AI introduces a new dimension: it can respond to a child, creating the impression of a relationship that goes beyond imaginative play.
A chatbot is available on demand. It does not visibly grow impatient, interrupt with its own problems or require the compromises that real relationships do. For a young person who feels lonely, anxious or misunderstood, this accessibility may feel comforting.
But human relationships teach us things that a responsive machine cannot fully replicate: How to read another person’s expressions, how to empathise, listen when we disagree, repair a misunderstanding, respect boundaries and recognise that someone else’s feelings matter too. These are not incidental life skills. They are part of learning to live with other people. They are about being mindful of the people around us.
The concern is not that a child who talks to AI will inevitably withdraw from human relationships. It is that we should notice when a machine begins to replace conversations, connections and help-seeking that a child could otherwise experience with people.
This is no longer a hypothetical question. A February 2026 Pew Research Center survey of 1,458 American teenagers aged 13 to 17 found that 16% had used AI chatbots for casual conversation and 12% had used them for emotional support or advice. These figures do not establish harm or dependence, and they cannot automatically be applied to Indian children. They do, however, show that some teenagers are already turning to AI for more than information and schoolwork.
Preparing children
For parents and educators, the answer cannot simply be to ban AI or pretend it will disappear. Children are growing up in a world where these tools will be part of education, work and everyday life. They need to learn how to use AI, but also how to question it, verify its answers, recognise its limitations and take responsibility for their own decisions.
UNESCO’s 2024 AI Competency Framework for Students places a human-centred mindset among its four key dimensions, alongside AI ethics, techniques and applications, and system design. It emphasises critical judgement and preparing students to become responsible users and co-creators of AI.
That is an important distinction. AI literacy should mean more than knowing how to write a good prompt. It should include knowing when not to use AI, when to check its answer and when to put the device aside and do the work oneself.
What adults can do
A parent can ask a child to solve a problem before consulting AI, then compare the child’s reasoning with the tool’s response. A teacher can ask students to explain how they arrived at an answer, rather than evaluating only the final product. Children can be encouraged to write their own stories before asking AI for suggestions, build something with their hands before watching a digital demonstration, and attempt to resolve a difficulty before seeking an instant solution.
Most importantly, adults need to model these habits themselves. If we unquestioningly accept every AI-generated answer, we cannot reasonably expect children to approach it with discernment.
Offering support
There is one more question we must ask: when a child is distressed, lonely or overwhelmed, who do they turn to?
Every child needs at least one adult they can approach in a moment of crisis—someone who will listen without judgement, take their feelings seriously and help them find the right support. Technology may offer information or a starting point, but it should never become a substitute for making human help accessible.
The goal is not to raise children who are afraid of AI. It is to raise children who can use it without surrendering their own judgement, curiosity, resilience or relationships.
In a world where a machine is always available, let us make sure no child feels that it is the only one available to them.
(K. Sreedevi is a holistic learning specialist integrating Montessori education, remedial therapy and mindfulness to support children’s learning and emotional well-being. sreedeviarun@gmail.com)