Parent finds 9-year-old using AI, starts debate by explaining negative impact of technology: 'Imagine saying 'I caught my child using the internet' in 2000'

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Ally Perry • Writer and Editor
Sep 20, 2026 9:15 AM EDT

What is the right way to parent in the age of AI?

As if having kids wasn't complicated enough, the internet and everything that has come with it has only added more challenges that parents have to deal with. Most would argue that it is unrealistic to raise a child with 0 screen time for a full eighteen years of life, but giving them access to such things opens up a whole different world that is occasionally very positive, but also has plenty of risks.

In this decade, the new, fun thing that could be affecting your child's upbringing and development is artificial intelligence. They could be using it to cheat on schoolwork or even as a friend, and a parent who isn't supervising their internet use would be none the wiser. While AI doesn't always have to be a net negative, there is no doubt that it is a touchy subject that becomes even touchier when minors are involved. Seeing as there are plenty of full-grown adults who don't know how to have a healthy relationship with AI products, kids are only likely to be more vulnerable to going down a dark path with this kind of technology. If they have access to it at all, there need to be checks and balances that will inevitably be influenced by the belief system of their parents.

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  • A young girl using a laptop at a table while wearing headphones.
    via Thomas Park

    A young girl using a laptop at a table while wearing headphones. Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.
     

  • A parent was unhappy to find that their 9-year-old had been speaking with an AI without their knowledge, asking it for advice on various topics like family issues and a story she was writing. They decided that the best thing to do was to have a serious conversation with her about the negative impact of artificial intelligence.

    While some applauded them for doing the right thing, others felt like they were being unfair to fearmonger about something that was becoming such a big part of many people's lives. It is a difficult dilemma for sure.

  • Justine Moore → @venturetwins I am so sad for this kid
    via venturetwins
  • r/antiai u/LiminalLost • 2h I caught my child using Al Discussion Join I just caught my 9 year old using Google Al. She had only been using it off and on for about a week. She talked to it about how to get along better with her little sisters, how to improve her swimming times after a swim meet, and then she used it to help her write fan fiction plotlines for her favorite book series. I just had a long conversation with her about it, and she's devastated. She didn't know it had environmental imp
    via venturetwins

  • She wasn't moving with the times.

    TaiigerBlue O @TaiigerBlue Same person, different era. r/antielectricity u/Steadfast Candle ⚫ 2h I caught my child using Electricity Discussion Join I just caught my 9 year old using the new Electric Lights. She had only been using it off and on for about a week. She used the bright electric light to read books on proper manners and how to be kinder to her little sisters, to carefully practice her lessons and improve her penmanship, and then she stayed up late into the night using it to invent n
    via TaiigerBlue
  • twelve million beers @mojito_flow I'm very pro-Al but this parent is right. Children should not be exposed to LLMs while their brains are maturing. This will be worse than LLM psychosis. I'm glad I didn't have access to LLM's growing up.
    via mojito_flow
  • Crux Australis **** @cruxaustralis A parent parenting and looking out for the wellbeing of her child and her lived human experiences? Well I never! I'm glad, Al will one shot the fl out of kids if we let them use it unrestrained.
    via __cruxaustralis

  • Maybe it could be a useful tool with supervision.

    Burhan @burhanlabs using Al to write stories, improve at swimming, and figure out sibling relationships. those are things a 9 year old should be working out herself with real people, her own brain, that is literally how kids develop
    via burhanlabs
  • It gets lan Miles @ianmiles worse. The child is on the spectrum and basically has problems relating to people (so naturally she relates to a computer much better!) but the neurotic anti-Al Reddit mom decided to put her in therapy instead to talk about her feelings. F everything.
    via ianmiles
  • I used to write fanfics. When it comes to writing fanfics, if she feels like her own ideas aren't good enough, tell her that it's normal for creative people to have self- doubt about their ideas, but encourage her to keep thinking and keep trying. She'll eventually write a story she's proud of, and it will mean a lot to her that she used her own brain to write it!! 202 LiminalLost OP. 5h ago Exactly! And she's already in therapy, she has a therapist she can talk to about her sisters, and I do ta
    via ianmiles

  • The parent wasn't tech-minded.

    Macroblock @sainimatic Supervillain origin story. Conversation should've been: look, don't use Google Al. It's terrible. Use the Thinking models with chain of thought. Here's an account. Here's how you ask questions, and here's a good system prompt. Explain what LLM stands for. Check important info.
    via sainimatic
  • djcows @djcows imagine saying "i caught my child using the internet" in 2000
    via djcows
  • Dr. Julie Gurner → @drgurner I could see not wanting a 9 year old unmonitored with Al, but sitting with her as you help her refine prompts to improve her swim times and school her competitors would have been clutch. Then maybe talk to humans about her relationships and work it through with her parents.
    via drgurner

  • This was an ideological battle.

    Lacanian @boreddeleuzian Silly Luddite paranoia aside, I will never not be uncomfortable when parents force their worldview on their child and then claim their child "now fully understands" or "knows". As if the child was rationally convinced of the correctness of your position.
    via boreddeleuzian
  • Jill Filipovic @JillFilipovic Are we sad for this kid because her parents won't let her us Al or because she used Al in the first place to help her navigate very normal kid problems that it is developmentally important for kids to figure out? Because "9 year olds should not be talking to chat bots" generally seems like a good principle?
    via JillFilipovic
  • mass @Memetic Theory The mother actually may be correct here (environmental stuff aside) I actually don't have good intuition on a child's brain running on a loop with LLMs. It feels like it could deaden it like TikTok or amplify curiosity
    via Memetic_Theory

  • AI can't replace real interaction.

    Televise ** @TeleviseFur I feel like I'm going insane with all this discourse going on. I only use it when I feel like I need it. I don't replace my own work with Al slop, I am pro-human when it comes to art. I just wanna know stuff, when searching online doesn't help, and Al finds information quicker
    via TeleviseFur
  • Cassie Pritchard → @hecubian_devil This is good parenting. Not judgmental or shaming, but nurturing their child's own human abilities while protecting them from something that can stunt their independent ability to learn and problem-solve-and which carries the real danger of creating and enhancing delusions
    via hecubian_devil
  • Andrew Egger @EggerDC I do not hate Al as much as this parent but I am in fervent agreement with them that a nine-year-old should not be using it!
    via EggerDC

  • There were two sides to it.

    fardeen @fardeentwt this seems right and wrong at the same time using ai so early can impact natural creativity but if kids don't use ai then they can be left far behind
    via fardeentwt

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kids technology parenting artificial intelligence
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