Simon H King

In my book What if the Next Voice They Trust Isn’t Yours? I share scenarios where we can practise the kind of parenting skills we’ll need to both protect and prepare our children and help them develop their own thinking.

Try this one out.

The Scenario

Your child is at the kitchen table doing homework. You notice they’re using AI to generate answers, they’re copying parts of what an AI chatbot has given them straight into their work.

How do you notice? We’ll come to that in the book.

For now, let’s agree you see it. And you pause for a moment to consider your options. 

What would you do?

A) Say nothing – they’re getting it done, and that’s what matters

B) Tell them to stop – ‘That’s cheating. Do it yourself.’

C) Ask: ‘Show me how you’re using it — I’m curious.’

What the answer reveals

A) Say nothing

You avoid conflict, which is generally a good thing. But you also step out of the learning moment.

You see it, yes, but you don’t stay with it.

The risk with option A isn’t necessarily the AI. It’s the silence.

B) Shut it down

Telling your child to stop may protect their individual effort and integrity – for now. But there’s a risk you also shut down their curiosity. And the lesson they take away may not be the one you intended and it might be harder for you to spot next time.

You react before you understand what’s driving it. They learn the rule that AI has no place at the homework table.

But they don’t learn the reason why.

C) Get curious

You fight the urge to react and pause long enough to see what’s really happening – not just the behaviour, but the influence behind it.

You try to understand it from their side, not just your own.

And you stay in the conversation, even when it would be easier to walk away.

It’s not a moment for control or avoidance – its connection first, guidance second.

Option C opens up the conversation.

The Conversation Unlock Question: 

This question gets to the heart of why AI is sitting at the homework table. 

Before you decide, consider this.

The British Heart Foundation (BHF) is currently using AI to predict heart attacks up to a decade before they strike — developing treatments that could prevent, reverse, and even cure inherited heart conditions. [1]

Is the British Heart Foundation cheating by using AI?

If the BHF can trust AI with our hearts, why can’t children trust it with their minds and homework? 

But it’s a lot more complicated than all of that.

Simon.

Source: 

[1] British Heart Foundation – https://www.bhf.org.uk/keep-us-beating#:~:text=Since%201961%20we’ve%20funded%20lifesaving%20research%20and%2C,up%20to%20a%20decade%20before%20they%20strike.