AI and Children: What Is Going On?
The newest generation of our society has seemed to be falling short in everything; Learning averages have fallen to record-shattering lows, attention spans have gone down to mere seconds in length, and kids will do anything in the world to keep their heads buried in a gadget known as the iPad. And with the introduction of AI-generated content, which rapidly increases the volume of content distributed, the pace of children's learning has accelerated to catastrophic levels. Many questions linger in people's minds outside this generation: Why? How did all of this happen? Why does my little sibling or child throw tantrums when you take the screen away and try to talk to them? The answer is very complex and very dark at the same time...
The Rise of Short-Form Ai Content and Fall of Attention Spans
Apps that host short-form videos, such as TikTok, have blown up worldwide and have proven to be time-wasting, overstimulating applications for children who don't realize how dangerous excessive consumption of this type of content can be. Most parenting experts suggest that children between the ages of 2-5 should be limited to 1 hour or less of screen time, while those younger than 2 should not have screen time at all. Unfortunately, parents tend to ignore these suggestions and give their children a device as early as a few months old. When you expose a child to a screen this early, they become over-reliant on it, and don't pay attention to the outside, real world. TikTok has been filled with kids using the platform, and its content is embedded in their minds. Studies show that children's attention spans have fallen drastically, and now, with AI-generated short-form content, this trend has become even more dangerous, with these videos having no meaning and being created solely to keep your child's attention.
Brainrot and Memes: What The HEck Do They Mean??
Another main offender of the crisis of children's declining cognitive skills is the rise of "Brainrot" and similar memes that push this idea further. "Brainrot" is a term for the decline of mental clarity, attention span, and ability to comprehend everyday situations. Brainrot can also be attributed to the content that Generation Alpha(those born between 2010-2024), short-form content that has no meaning or plot, and has words and phrases that only they understand, leaving outsiders confused and worried about their mental state. This last year has been one of the worst in terms of the spread of brainrot and similar memes, most notably AI-generated creatures known as "Italian Brainrot" and the annoying yet popular among kids "6-7". These have rocked and broken schools around the country due to their repetitive sayings, inability to take students out of a stance-like state, and their inability to communicate and learn like generations before them.
My Perspective On This
So what is my stance on this spread of harmful content for our youngest members? My way of describing the solution can be summed up in one word: Monitorization. Parents should always be careful about what their kids are consuming and follow proper guidelines on how much screen time younger children can have each day. And Social media platforms should not be accessible to kids until they understand which content is AI-generated and which is real, and know when something is too addictive for them. Screen addiction has been a problem among kids for years, but with AI and overstimulating memes with no meaning, it has become ten times worse, and more effort needs to be made about this before their futures are ruined.
Sources:
https://www.gse.harvard.edu/ideas/edcast/24/10/impact-ai-childrens-development
Author: Spencer Klein
Spencer Klein is a graphic designer from Long Island, New York with a passion for video games, comics, and pop-culture. He studies how design is marketed towards diverse audiences and uses his research to create stunning designs for anyone to view and enjoy.
