Is it a good idea to let a 16 yrs old use an AI assistant .i.e. chatgpt?

InputZero , 4 months ago

I don’t think there will be any change in personality or cognition just by using ChatGPT. The only concern I can think of is over reliance. Especially if your child intends to goto post secondary school. Universities are very strict regarding plagiarism and view AI generation as such. If they can use it responsibly there no downside, if they’re going to use it to start to do their homework for them it’ll be a problem.

FaceDeer , 4 months ago

Well, lets take a look at how the 16-year-olds who got to use ChatGPT ten years ago have turned out...

In seriousness, as others have been pointing out, the big online AI assistants are all super neutered these days. I think it's probably fine, and indeed given how these tools are going to likely become more widespread in the future I think it's a good idea for kids to get used to using them. At 16 I'd say they're too old to sit them down and give them a lecture about "it's not really aware, it doesn't feel emotions or have memories, and if you go to it with any sort of medical questions definitely double-check those with another source" - lectures at that age are probably going to backfire from what I've seen. Instead, suggest that they research those things themselves. Just put those questions out there and hopefully it'll motivate them to be curious.

NoiseColor , 4 months ago

Not to be contraversial, but likely chatgpt would be the most benign conversation a 16 year old will have in a day. 16 year old! Thats a crazy age.

The public models are so neutered today that basically all they put out is happy shiny good thoughts information.

rufus , 4 months ago (edited 4 months ago)

Kids should use their own creativity, practice reading, creating something. Play outside, get dirty. Do sports, maybe learn a musical instrument. And do their homework themselves.

I’d say many things are alright in the proper dose. I mean ChatGPT is part of the world they’re growing in to…

And 16 isn’t a kid anymore. They can handle some responsibility. I don’t see a one-size-fits every 16 yo solution. I think you should allow them and decide individually.

I’d say at 16, give them some responsibility and let them practice handling it. But that means supervised. You can’t just give them anything and hop they’ll cope on their own. And AI has some non-obvious consequences / traps you can run into. Not even most of the adults can handle or understand it properly. So your focus should be teaching them the how and why, in my opinion. Alike you’d teach your kid how to use the circular saw at some point that age. As a parent you should lokk at them and see if they’re ready for it and how much supervision is appropriate.

fratermus , 4 months ago

Like any other automated tool, I’d want them to master the manual skills first.

With math and calculators first we show we can do it longhand then get the calc. Show you can search and assess sources first then incorporate AI.

bilboswaggings , 4 months ago

Why would you want that?

AI does not know things, it’s answers depend on the wording of the guestion. I guess it could be used if limited (teaching how to use it responsibly and showing how they make mistakes even in very simple situations)

Much like a calculator both are more effective if you know what is happening so you can catch the mistakes and fix them

NoiseColor , 4 months ago

Ai know things. They are a collection of knowledge. Not everything they respond with is made up.

bilboswaggings , 4 months ago

If it doesn’t understand what it’s saying can you really say it knows it? It has access to a lot of training data so it can get many things correct, but it’s effectively just generating the most likely answer from the training data

NoiseColor , 4 months ago

Well obviously it doesn’t “know” know, it’s not alive.

We are all generating the most likely answer from the training data. But going back to the original question : what do you fear chatgpt would say that would be detrimental to a 16 year old?