What
Many tweens and teens already spend much of the day on screens. AI arrives in that environment as homework help, companions, and image tools, often before kids have any AI literacy.
Why it is serious
Without norms for authorship, open access lets AI become part of who a kid is before they learn to use it as a tool.
What needs to happen
Kids need literacy before open access. Parent rules should cover AI use as well as screen time. Schools need to deal honestly with how cheating actually happens. And kids need a ladder that fits each age, which one “kids and AI” pamphlet can't provide.
What we are doing
By-age research is one of our six full research areas. Rocket Factory and Moonshot Camp will be built from this research. Our summer 2026 observation on tweens and teens is the first public note.
What we watch
- Published evidence of homework helpers drifting into companions for under-16s
- School policy vs lived cheating norms
- Parent rules that stop at screen time and ignore AI use