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Lately every conversation I have with friends or with other parents turns to one topic: AI. We’re all worried about how much AI-made content is flooding social media and what it’s doing to our children. I see AI blurring the line between what’s real and what’s fake, and I’m scared our children won’t be able to tell the difference.
A few weeks ago my 13-year-old son showed me a video of a well-known public figure supposedly saying hateful things. He was furious and sure it was real because it looked and sounded authentic. After checking, I found the whole video was AI-made. What scared me most wasn’t just the fake video but how easily my son believed it. He had seen it shared thousands of times, and to him, that popularity meant it must be true.
That’s the situation many parents face. Our children spend hours scrolling through endless posts, and they don’t always have the experience or critical thinking to question what they see. Unlike when we were young, many of them don’t read newspapers or watch the evening news. Social media is their main source of news, entertainment and learning. But social platforms reward speed and shock value, not accuracy.
I had another painful moment with my younger daughter. She came to me in tears after seeing pictures online of girls her age with ‘perfect’ faces and bodies. She asked why she didn’t look like them. It broke my heart to realise these children are comparing themselves not just to unrealistic standards, but to people who may not even exist.
We can try to limit screen time and talk to our children, but technology is moving faster than most of us can keep up with. AI-generated images, fake news articles, fake videos, and made-up stories are getting more convincing every day. Even many adults can’t always spot what’s fake. How can we expect impressionable kids and teens to navigate this alone?
I worry about the long-term effects.
When young people get their information in short clips and viral posts, they lose the habit of reading carefully, checking facts, and thinking things through. Newspapers and trustworthy journalism used to help people understand events in context. Now many young people get bits of information designed to make them react emotionally, not to help them understand.
I’m afraid we’re raising a generation that’s easy to mislead. A fake image can spark panic overnight. A false story can travel the world before the truth catches up. Kids who constantly see misinformation may grow up confused, distrustful, or cynical.
This problem can’t wait. Schools should teach digital literacy so students learn how to spot misinformation and understand AI-made media. Social media companies must act too, clearly label AI-generated content and slow the spread of deceptive material.
Most of all, parents need help. We’re doing our best to protect our children in a world that has changed in just a few years. We want them to grow up informed, confident and thoughtful, not as victims of an online culture where it’s hard to know what’s true.
AI can do a lot of good, but without safeguards it can also mislead a whole generation. That thought keeps me awake at night.
Natasha K
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