Teaching AI to Today's Generation: Why, From What Age, and How to Start at Home, in School and in the Scout Troop
Originally published at scouthub.dev . Yes, children and teenagers should learn about AI. Not to become programmers, but to understand what they use: how it works, when it gets things wrong, and what happens to their data. The best places for this learning are the home, the school and the scout troop, with adults who sit beside them rather than only banning the tools or leaving kids alone with…
Teaching children about artificial intelligence (AI) is crucial in today's world, as they are already using AI tools in their daily lives. Adults often lack awareness of their children's usage, making it essential to educate kids on responsible AI usage. This education should start at home, in schools, and in scouting organizations, where adults can guide the learning process alongside their children.
One reason for teaching AI is that children are already using it for schoolwork. According to a Pew Research Center survey, 26% of U.S. teens aged 13 to 17 used ChatGPT for schoolwork in autumn 2024, up from 13% the previous year. A Common Sense Media report found that seven in ten young people have used generative AI tools, mostly for schoolwork. However, most parents are unaware of their teens' usage.
While many teachers recognize the importance of teaching AI, they often feel unprepared to do so. UNESCO's AI competency framework for students outlines 12 competencies across four dimensions: human-centred mindset, ethics of AI, AI techniques and applications, and AI system design. These competencies are further divided into three levels: understand, apply, and create.
Another framework, AI Literacy (AILit), developed by the OECD and European Commission, divides learning into four domains: engaging with AI, creating with AI, managing AI, and shaping AI. The AILit framework is designed for primary and secondary education and has been adopted for use in the 2029 PISA assessment.
To educate children about AI, four key questions can be asked: What is this system doing? Where did its answer come from? Should I believe it? And who is responsible if it is wrong? These questions encourage critical thinking about AI usage and its implications.
AI can harm children's learning if used without proper guidance. A field experiment in Turkey found that students who used an ordinary AI tool scored significantly lower on a later exam than those who used a guided AI tutor. The guided tutor helped students practice problem-solving without relying on the AI tool's answers.
While AI can be a crutch that prevents the development of basic skills, tools that ask questions and provide hints can help maintain learning practices. Unguided AI usage can lead to cheating and hinder learning.
Teaching AI is an upbringing issue, as it involves values such as honesty, trustworthiness, and responsibility. Scouting organizations, which have promoted these values for over a century, can play a role in linking these values to children's AI usage. By teaching children to ask the four key questions about AI, they can develop a human-centred mindset and an understanding of the ethics surrounding AI.
Written by urgent.news from Dev.to's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
