The Myth of the Digital Native

We often buy into the myth of the digital native: the belief that growing up with technology gives children a secret superpower for understanding how it works, simply because they engage with and navigate it effortlessly. However, I find the opposite to be true. In the past decade I've spent researching the relationship between kids and AI, here’s what I’ve seen: 

Children don't automatically know what's going on with AI. They are figuring it out just like the rest of us.

Anthropomorphism—the human tendency to treat inanimate objects as living beings—affects children more than adults. AI devices and smart toys mimic intelligence and friendliness so well that children learn to trust them more than they trust themselves. This creates a growing risk of children becoming harmfully overreliant on technology.

The good news is that with intentional action, we can help children see these devices for what they really are and empower them to write the rules of AI.

This is the exact message I took to TED's global stage.

Views from the Red Circle

Doing a TED Talk is an academic rite of passage, the ultimate launchpad for your life’s work.

Thursday, May 14, 2026, 4:07 p.m. I step onto the stage. Plant my feet at the center of the red circle. Take a deep, grounding breath. Look up into the dark at the faces of the audience before me. And share my one big idea: it’s time to expose the man behind the curtain and stop treating AI like magic.

In my talk, I emphasized the high stakes of this moment. Emerging AI capabilities have created incredible opportunities to surpass our boundaries, but they have also left many people, especially the youngest and most precious members of our society, vulnerable to new categories of harm.

And we don’t just have to sit there and take it.

Probing the Machine

I’ve noticed a fascinating paradox when watching children interact with AI, one that I haven’t seen many people talking about. 

One moment, I’ll see a child treating the technology like a person, “Alexa is my best friend.” “I think there’s a little lady inside there, we should be polite to her.” While this may seem harmless, it becomes dangerous when a child comes to trust that "little lady" for all the answers. Protecting children’s curiosity matters.

But I also see kids doing the exact opposite: trying to break the technology. “Hey Alexa, how old are you?” “Cozmo, do you want to eat this apple?” “Hey Google, is it okay if I eat you?” These aren't just silly questions. They are children probing the machine's very nature.

I celebrate this second approach. Children need to interrogate and deconstruct their AI toys the same way they do the rest of their world. For even healthier engagement, a child and an adult should work together to poke at the machine, challenge its responses, and find its limits.

Three Ways to Start Rewriting the Rules

Parents and teachers often tell me this kind of critical engagement feels intimidating. Don’t worry, you don’t have to become an AI expert or figure it out alone. I’ve spent my career creating tools to help everyday people have conversations with kids about AI.

If you want to help your kids build a strong foundation in AI literacy, start here:

• The Family AI Toolkit: The Family AI Toolkit is a video series that Day of AI built alongside the family entertainment leader Common Sense Media. Watch the videos together, then use our conversation cards to ask your kids or students what they really think about AI. Their answers might surprise you.
• Early Childhood AI Lessons: If you’re research inclined, you can read about my early explorations designing preschool AI lessons in my chapter of Exploring the Potential of Artificial Intelligence in Early Childhood Education. You can also try the upgraded version of these activities directly on the Day of AI curriculum. It’s not too early to have conversations with kids about what it means to be alive or not, an AI robot or not, and what that means for how we should care for objects in our world.
• Trivia Time: Designed for upper elementary, middle, and high school classrooms, this 10-minute game challenges students and teachers to unpack common misconceptions about AI. It’s been incredibly popular, and we are launching Version 2 this fall.

After years of working in this space, I’m excited to see more adults and kids deepening their AI literacy. I believe deeply in the work of Day of AI: to help kids develop their own strong opinions, embrace curiosity, see past the magic, and rewrite the rules of AI.

Stay tuned as the official talk video will be available in the coming months. Until then...