Raising Generation AI

Google has announced that its AI tools and Google Search will be switched off by default on pupil school accounts from early next year. Schools can switch them back on. But Google says its search and its AI are now so closely tied that pupils can’t have Search without the AI answers. Holly and Fiona look at what this means for children who use Google at school. They also discuss whether it is like...

Holly’s children want to be an alien and a ballerina. For older children, the question of what work will look like by the time they leave school is much harder to answer. A new survey from Bishop Burton College found 77% of parents are worried about AI affecting their child’s job prospects. Fiona explains why routine jobs are the most exposed and why fewer entry-level roles could mean fewer people...

Tung Tung Tung Sahur is one of the best-known Italian brainrot characters, and he was made with seven prompts in an AI image tool. There’s now a legal fight in the US over who, if anyone, owns him. Fiona explains what’s going on and why the outcome could shape who owns anything made with AI, including the characters your kids create. Also this week, OpenAI’s boss Sam Altman says the world should a...

Parents are using AI to remove the watermarks from school photos rather than paying for them. Fiona and Holly talk about whether that’s fair on the photographers, what actually happens to your child’s photo once it’s uploaded, and why you should never, ever put the class photo into AI. To prove school photos are worth paying for, we’ve also included one of Fiona in primary school that her brother...

Both Meta and OpenAI have launched new AI products over the last couple of weeks and they've moved away from their butthole logos to cute little, fluffy creatures. Meta’s character is called Jolly and is a little beige plushie. And OpenAI has Dots, a series of colourful fluffy animated characters. Fiona and Holly discuss if we think they might make us trust the AI more and whether that's the whole...

Meta Muse and Google CC have been released in America, with both promising to help with family organisation. This is exactly what we’ve spoken about SO MANY times on the show since we started. Forget getting it to write for us or using AI to create art - this is what we’ve been asking for. So should we be excited for Google CC and Meta Muse coming to the UK? Holly and Fiona talk through what they’...

Fiona and Holly talk to the world's first AI actor, Tilly Norwood, to find out what her advice would be to the kids that want to be actors when they grow up. We also very much acknowledge that we're fuelling the PR for the company behind the AI actor, and talk about how we actually don't think she's any good. The conversation has moved on from "AI is going to kill all humans" to AI regulation, and...

Fiona and Holly discuss how AI would even go about killing us, what the various theories are behind the “killer AI” announcements and what we can actually do about it as parents. This is after a senior safety researcher working on Claude claimed that he thinks there's a greater than 10% chance that AI will kill all humans in the next decade which really didn’t help Holly’s fears about AI. Plus we...

ChatGPT for Teens launched over the summer so Fiona explains what it is, how it knows who is a teen, and explains why parents can’t try it out. We also get into the new phone-free school requirements for English schools and colleges, AI slop and talk about those amazing videos filling social media from World Humanoid Robot Games. Plus your AI parenting questions and Holly’s AI hallucinations. Usef...

Meta's AI glasses and an Instagram AI feature that generated images from public photos, Holly and Fiona break down the privacy risks for parents in this AI parenting podcast. Recorded just before Meta pulled the Instagram feature, this episode looks at privacy, ethical design in AI products, whether these features are actually needed, and the risk of everyday bullying alongside more extreme misuse...

Do I need to worry about my son's AI companion? Fiona and Holly are joined by Professor Andrew McStay, director of Bangor University's Emotional AI Lab, to talk about AI companions and what's actually going on when a child forms a bond with one. Andrew shares research showing around 80% of UK teenagers have tried an AI companion, with about 30% using one more than once a week - and explains what t...

The UK government has proposed banning under-16s from holding social media accounts - but does it actually protect children from AI? Fiona and Holly are joined by child trauma psychotherapist Dr Catherine Knibbs, who isn't convinced the ban will work. They dig into what the ban is actually trying to fix, and whether removing access to named platforms touches the AI behind them - the recommendation...

AI-powered toys are heading for this year's Christmas tree and in toy shop aisles right now, but what are they actually doing when your toddler talks to them? Dr Emily Goodacre joins Fiona and Holly to dig into what AI toys, like Miko, mean for a young child's development, what data they might be collecting, and why a toy can't actually manage real social play the way a person can. Covers: AI toys...

This week Holly and Fiona get stuck into the topic of the environment, learning that measuring AI’s impact is not quite as simple as it may seem. They’re joined by Dr Kelly Widdicks from the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology to talk about how some research suggests that the data centres behind AI have the same carbon footprint as the whole of NYC. But it’s not all bad news as Kelly also explai...

Fiona hates driving and loves the idea of a world where automated cars are the norm, whereas Holly is pretty worried about the thought of it. With driverless cars being tested on the streets of London there was no better time than now to ask Dr Nick Reed whether our kids will ever need to take a driving test. Dr Nick is an expert in the safe deployment of driverless cars in the UK and tells us wha...

The big question this week is whether Holly is feeling any more knowledgeable about AI. Join Fiona and Holly as they reflect on what they’ve learned in the last few weeks and what they want to cover before the summer. Useful Links: askma.co.uk Find our website at raisinggenerationai.com We're also on Facebook and Instagram . The music and graphics for this podcast have been created using AI. Credi...

Holly has always considered coding a “safe-bet” career path, but now AI can code she’s not sure whether it’s a good path to encourage her daughter down. Anne-Marie Imafidon, CEO of Stemettes, joins us on the podcast to talk about tech careers, unicorns and periods. Useful Links: Stemettes (sign up to the newsletter) Link to Hannah Fry’s video about paperclips and mugs Clip of James Acaster on The...

Are we seeing the end of the Saturday job now AI is here? We’re seeing headlines all the time about AI replacing people, and it’s apparently starting with the entry level jobs. So what does that mean for our kids trying to get their foot in the door? Holly and Fiona chat to Julia Druck, whose son is heading into the world of work in less than 2 years time and she’s taking some pretty drastic steps...

What does AI in schools look like? Is AI teaching our kids or just making things easier for teachers? This week, Holly and Fiona chat about what concerns them most at the thought of AI in school. They're joined by The AI Educator Dan Fitzpatrick, whose job it is to help schools understand and prepare for AI. Useful Links: The AI Educator AI Algorithms in Covid times - BBC News Article Find our web...

We're all using AI for the little things, like checking how long it'll take to get to football practice, but when does it cross the line? This week, Holly and Fiona chat about whether leaning on AI for parenting is a bit of a cop out, or whether it can genuinely be a lifesaver when you need it most. They're joined by mum Lena Chauhan, who's had her fair share of wins (and fails) using AI for paren...

AI is officially everywhere, but can we actually opt out? This week, Holly and Fiona explore whether we have any choice but to embrace the tech - and what that means for our families. They are joined by Will Gardner OBE (CEO of Childnet and Director of the UK Safer Internet Centre) to dive into how children are really using AI and how they feel about it. Crucially, we look at how you can support y...

Weather presenter and mum of two, Holly Green, has a lot of concerns about AI. Luckily her best friend, Fiona Morgan, is an AI expert. When they get together, Holly always has a lot of questions about parenting in a world filled with AI. Instead of answering those over a glass of wine on a girls' brunch, they decided to record a podcast to help out any other parents who are also feeling a bit appr...

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