Friday, April 17, 2026, at the Clemson University AI Symposium I saw how fast the change is coming. I was there as a listener, an observer, and as someone who is trying to contribute to a successful future for humans in an AI world.

The Excitement in the Air

Who could foresee that AI tools could help librarians weed out predatory journals? Or, that it could help food producers detect olive oil spoilage? Or, that physicists would be able to invent customized equations to explain and extrapolate about real-world data points? Everyone is exploring. Everyone is experimenting. Everyone is learning. It is an exciting time to be a researcher and a technologist.

The experts are reaching new heights, new possibilities, new applications, and much more quickly than ever before. It is extending human expertise.

Researchers that are using AI tools are clearly enchanted by them; their excitement is palpable as they shared their AI-assisted research gains.

Clemson has a unique focus that they call “human-centered AI”. This is where the issues of privacy, equity, bias, human needs, and social good enter the conversation. All of this is genuinely good. The researchers I met are not naive technologists racing toward disruption. Many of them are thoughtful people asking hard questions. Clemson’s human-centered AI focus is real, not just branding. And yet.

And Yet…

My work in education made me curious. How are teaching and learning evolving? Are professors and whole programs rethinking class dynamics and instructional design?

One professor said she now expects students to produce better work because they are using AI. “We have to adapt; not everyone wants to do that,” she noted.

She and others I spoke with who taught undergraduate students shared concerns about the erosion of students’ thinking and human capacities when AI is used poorly. She paused thoughtfully and replied, “This is something I think about all the time.”

Another professor— an AI researcher himself— told me he had genuinely extended his own capacities through AI use, but worries about the next generation,

“Students need to have built-up a capacity for thinking through hard work and struggle. I wonder about how we are going to preserve this.”

It is a paradox everyone is seeing: AI use is extending the frontier of knowledge, but the humans using the AI must bring hard-won human knowledge and capacities. I carried that paradox with me through the afternoon.

A Startling Question

One conversation continues to puzzle me. A professor asked me, “What if that is the future? What if humans will just lose their ability to think?”

We both startled at the thought.

Not sure what to say, I replied, “But, it wouldn’t happen to all of us. Some would still keep their ability to think. Then, there would be a few people with a lot of power. Being citizens in a free country should mean this is not what we want.”

I thought of my own kids and all the kids I have taught, of their smiles and their particular talents, and I knew: this is exactly the moment educators were made for. Not to deny the change, but to make sure the humans navigating it can flourish.

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Below is my compilation of high-quality, vetted resources about artificial intelligence and its intersection with human development. It will be updated periodically.

Policy

Center for Democracy & Technology, Common Sense Media. Letter to Secretary of Education, Linda McMahon. Oct 7, 2025. https://www.commonsensemedia.org/sites/default/files/featured-content/files/coalition-letter-to-u.s-doe-re-ai-in-education.pdf .

Executive Order 14277, Apr 28, 2025, Advancing Artificial Intelligence Education for American Youth. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/04/28/2025-07368/advancing-artificial-intelligence-education-for-american-youth

U.S. Department of Education (Department) has played an important role in achieving this priority, issuing Guidance on the Use of Federal Grant Funds to Improve Education Outcomes Using Artificial Intelligence (AI). July 22, 2025. https://www.ed.gov/media/document/opepd-ai-dear-colleague-letter-7222025-110427.pdf

State AI Guidance for K12 Schools. AI for Education. Accessed Jan 22, 2025. https://www.aiforeducation.io/ai-resources/state-ai-guidance . Summarizes state-level guidance for the 50 States.

Pope Leo XIV. Message for the 60th World Day of Social Communications. https://www.vatican.va/content/leo-xiv/en/messages/communications/documents/20260124-messaggio-comunicazioni-sociali.html

Research and Case Studies:

Aura. Overconnected Kids: Digital Stress, Addiction- Like Behaviors & AI’s Powerful Grip. Sept 2025. https://www.aura.com/reports/ai-kids-and-digital-stress .

ChatGPT may be eroding critical thinking skills. Time Magazine. Andrew R. Chow. Jun 23, 2025. https://time.com/7295195/ai-chatgpt-google-learning-school/

How OpenAI’s ChatGPT Guided a Teen to His Death. Center for Humane Technology. Aug 26, 2025.

[ Center for Humane Technology ]

How OpenAI's ChatGPT Guided a Teen to His Death

This podcast reflects the views of the Center for Humane Technology. Nothing said is on behalf of the Raine family or the legal team…

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10 months ago · 23 likes · Center for Humane Technology

(Case of Adam Rain from California)

CBS News. Parents of teens who died by suicide after AI chatbot interactions testify in Congress. Updated on: September 16, 2025 https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ai-chatbots-teens-suicide-parents-testify-congress/

Brookings Center for Universal Education. Burns, M; Winthrop, R; Luther, N; et.al. A NEW DIRECTION FOR STUDENTS IN AN AI WORLD: PROSPER, PREPARE, PROTECT. JAN 2026. https://www.brookings.edu/articles/ais-future-for-students-is-in-our-hands/ and downloadable at: https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/A-New-Direction-for-Students-in-an-AI-World-FULL-REPORT.pdf .

Center for Humane Technology. Ai in Society. https://www.humanetech.com/ai-society .

Dergaa I, Ben Saad H, Glenn JM, Amamou B, Ben Aissa M, Guelmami N, Fekih-Romdhane F, Chamari K. From tools to threats: a reflection on the impact of artificial-intelligence chatbots on cognitive health. Front Psychol. 2024 Apr 2;15:1259845. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1259845. PMID: 38629037; PMCID: PMC11020077. Link: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11020077/

Drevitch, G. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE. The Emerging Problem of “AI Psychosis:” Amplifications of delusions by AI chatbots may be worsening breaks with reality. Updated November 27, 2025. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/urban-survival/202507/the-emerging-problem-of-ai-psychosis .

Gaines, L.V. 1 in 5 high schoolers has had a romantic AI relationship or knows someone who has. OCTOBER 8, 2025. https://www.npr.org/2025/10/08/nx-s1-5561981/ai-students-schools-teachers .

Pew Research. Teens, Social Media and AI Chatbots 2025. Dec 1, 2025. https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2025/12/09/teens-social-media-and-ai-chatbots-2025/

Rhea, K. 6 Policy Recommendations for Adopting AI in the Classroom. 24 Feb 2025. https://thejournal.com/articles/2025/02/24/6-policy-recommendations-for-adopting-ai-in-the-classroom.aspx?p=1.

Tiffany Munzer, Joanna Parga-Belinkie, Libby Matile Milkovich, Suzy Tomopoulos, Taiwo Ajumobi, Corinn Cross, Roslyn Gerwin, Sheri Madigan, R. Psych, Council on Communications and Media; Digital Ecosystems, Children, and Adolescents: Policy Statement. Pediatrics 2026; https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2025-075320

Educational and Professional Development Resources

Common Sense Media. AI Literacy Lessons for Grades 6-12. https://www.commonsense.org/education/collections/ai-literacy-lessons-for-grades-6-12

Khan Academy. AI Certification Course for Teachers. https://blog.khanacademy.org/be-a-step-ahead-with-khan-academys-ai-certification-course-for-teachers/

The AI Education Project. https://www.aiedu.org/

Open Course Ware. 13 Foundational AI Courses, Resources from MIT. MIT. https://www.ocw-openmatters.org/2025/05/21/13-foundational-ai-courses-resources-from-mit/ .

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Let’s Look at Our Kids’ Experience

AI is ALREADY ubiquitous in our kids’ lives. 64% of teens use chatbots regularly and of those, 16% report using them “almost constantly.” (Pew, 2025)

Now, let’s imagine a positive human future with AI. What does that look like?

To thrive in an AI-saturated world, human skills will be even more important. Why? Because humans will do things only humans can do like: supervising human teams, executing in the real-world, prioritizing, and interpreting context.

Our children need to be MORE capable of adaptation and critical thinking, and to have DEEPER human social connections.

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Building Human Capacities

What does it mean to become a fully flourishing human? Classic philosophy and Modern cognitive science both describe humans as thinking, feeling, embodied, and relational beings. Humans also develop very slowly in all of these capacities. Our approach to AI should respect this “human material” and its rhythms.

Be Honest about the Challenge

We cannot be naive about the current “default” path when it comes to artificial intelligence. The way many generative AI tools are actually used by youth is not building their human material. This is especially the case when children and teens habitually use all-purpose interfaces, such as ChatGPT. Studies from Brookings (2026) and MIT (2025) are already showing effects of heavy AI use on memory, cognition, and relational skills.

In fact, the 2025 MIT study showed that ChatGPT users had the lowest brain engagement and “consistently under-performed at neural, linguistic, and behavioral levels.”

It goes beyond cognitive skills. It can affect the ability to form attachments and healthy relationships. A growing subset of young users prefers a chatbot to human social interactions. Why? Because it is a frictionless relationship. The bot is available 24-7, doesn’t get angry, always affirms, and asks nothing in return.

All of this affects how young people see themselves. Teens who use AI heavily experience erosion of self-trust— diminished confidence in their own resources and knowledge— as the AI intervenes even before their own mind and experience are consulted.

Empowering Youth to Navigate the Ocean of AI

Yes, we must integrate AI tools. Yes, we must prepare youth for AI jobs. But, we must add this goal at the forefront: Fortify children’s intellectual and social capacities for the AI world.

1. “Know Yourself”

   We begin with the human — an embodied, social, thinking person with the capacity to choose and act. We explore how humans develop slowly through relationships and through overcoming struggle, and why that slow developmental process matters in a world that offers instant answers.

2. Know the Machine

   Understand how AI systems actually work — from the inside out. Understanding the machine is the first step to using it wisely.

3. Choose wisely

   Develop practical habits and skills of self-regulation — setting personal goals, creating boundaries, and designing spaces in their own lives for growth, creativity, and genuine human connection. The goal is not to avoid AI but to flourish alongside it as a fully developed human being.

Adults and Youth Together

We need an urgent educational intervention that touches students, teachers, counselors, and parents.

Educate students. Give them the tools to protect their own minds, agency, and relationships.

Teacher and counselor professional development on this is urgent. Go beyond prompt engineering and tool use. They need to know the risks and how to talk to them with kids both while they are using AI and in other contexts.

Educate parents. Some parents think their kids are texting when they are actually interacting with chatbots or other AI products. Some do not know what to look for, what this technology is, nor how to prepare their kids to interact with it. They need help urgently.

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