In an article with WORLD, parents and experts, including the ERLC’s Jason Thacker, discuss the benefits and risks of artificial intelligence for young students.
AI chatbots can seem very human to children and this perspective can be “quite detrimental,” said Jason Thacker, the director of the research institute at the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission. It’s concerning how easily AI chatbots can substitute for companionship for children, he said.
Thacker added that Christian parents need to be aware that the technology isn’t neutral. The companies behind AI and the information the chatbots expose children to comes from a specific worldview.
Additionally, AI apps don’t always align with the purpose of education, which Thacker defined as to promote critical thinking, communication, and community. AI tools are good about transferring information but not about growing the whole person, he said.
“We can’t reduce education down simply to information transfer,” Thacker said. “Sitting in front of a screen all day, even with a personalized learning assistant—how are we getting active, involving our bodies, thinking, cultivating curiosity and wonder about the world God has created?”
Thacker pointed out that AI learning can be used well when it promotes pedagogical thinking. He tells his students to dig into a question on their own through discussion and research. Then he poses the same question to a chatbot, and his students analyze its answer.
