It’s been at least a year in the making to get here – preparing to launch this.
But what happens… What if the next voice they trust isn’t yours? That question has been on my mind since the beginning.
I want to tell you why…
I was sitting watching the Netflix show Adolescence, and it made me think about what social media – and even something as simple as emojis – can do, and what happens when our children start listening to or turning to voices that aren’t as trustworthy as ours.
Social media has obviously presented its challenges, and there’s a big debate going on at the moment – quite rightly. Australia, for example, has taken the lead in trying to shut it down for under-16s.
But my fear is this: when you shut things down, you create space – and that space can become darker areas of the internet and social media for our children to turn to.
We know this ourselves. If we stop one habit, we often replace it with another. To expect our children not to do the same feels unwise.
And then there’s the layer on top of that.
AI isn’t just a machine. It’s way beyond that.
Our children are turning to it, and it’s becoming a trusted voice. Research from Vodafone shows that over 81% of children aged 11 to 16 use AI, and around a third consider it a ‘friend’.
These are unprecedented times.
Machines have influenced our children (and us!) for a long time. But AI is different. It’s more than a calculator. It’s still a machine, yes… but when this machine can talk back and influence our children, it’s unlike anything we’ve seen before.
We need to see and hear the voice behind AI chatbots if we’re to understand their influence and stay in the conversation long enough to remain the voice our children trust most.
We’re a couple of weeks away from the book launch, and I can’t wait to show the world what I’ve been working on… In the meantime, feel free to read more about What if the Next Voice They Trust Isn’t You?
And for those who join the website early, I’ll keep you up to date with the book’s progress.
These are interesting times.
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