AI from an angle that is often missing from the adult debate: what children themselves think about the technology. Rather than treating kids simply as future users of AI, the article explores their actual reactions, showing that many children are both curious about AI and deeply worried about its consequences. Their concerns range from cheating and learning to deepfakes, jobs, privacy, climate impacts and whether AI could make people less capable.
One striking theme is that children do not see AI as an abstract future technology. They are already experiencing it in school and online. Some worry that classmates use AI to complete assignments, making it harder for students who do their own work to compete fairly. Others are concerned that AI-generated content makes it increasingly difficult to know what is real. Research and interviews with young people similarly indicate growing skepticism: one recent survey found that the share of Gen Z respondents feeling excited about AI fell while the share feeling angry increased.
Children also raise surprisingly broad questions about their future lives and careers. They worry about what jobs will remain available, whether AI will make people lazy, whether an AI doctor could make a dangerous mistake, and how deepfakes could damage someone's reputation. These concerns suggest that AI literacy for children cannot simply mean teaching them how to use ChatGPT or other tools. It also needs to help them understand AI's limitations, evaluate its outputs, recognize synthetic media and think critically about when using AI is appropriate.
The most important message is that children should have a voice in deciding how AI enters education. Rather than imposing AI systems on students and expecting them to adapt, schools could involve students in evaluating tools, discussing privacy and determining where AI actually improves learning. Education researchers have warned that unrestricted use of general-purpose AI could encourage students to outsource the difficult cognitive work through which skills are developed. A better approach may be targeted AI that assists teachers and students while deliberately preserving time for reading, writing, problem-solving, discussion and independent thinking.
