Pacific University’s cognitive-developmental psychology professor, Erica Kleinknecht, discusses ways to educate children on AI
In the past few years, the use of generative AI has grown significantly. Throughout campus it has become increasingly hard to ignore its impact; from teachers distributing AI policies along with their syllabi to discussing the ethics of its usage in class. Pacific University’s own cognitive-developmental psychologist, Erica Kleinknecht, has been committed to researching and raising awareness on the need for K-12 digital and AI-literacy programs in school. Writing and helping with multiple articles on the subject has allowed her to generate a well rounded opinion on the handling of the subject.
“Students have always cheated, and AI hasn’t changed that,” says Kleinknecht. Even though horror stories have circulated about the overwhelming use of AI in college classrooms, she believes that it’s less than we think. “AI has changed the workspace,” she mentions. “For example, Moodle used to be a fine way to administer an essay test, but it’s not anymore because you can generate something and paste it in.” While this could be taken as a major setback in education, she believes that the way to move forward is to educate younger students on healthier ways to interact with AI.
“What we need to teach is regulation. As a teacher, we need to help students learn how to use tools appropriately,” she explains. While AI can be harmful, she mentions that it’s already so embedded in technology and media that we interact with it that we need to determine an alternative solution other than completely disregarding it. “I totally get why people want to ban it. But when you get out into the world, employers are going to expect something different,” says Kleinknecht. While it sounds optimal to ban AI altogether, she notes that so many companies are already insisting on using the technology in their companies.
“That’s why I think we absolutely need to have literacy conversations about it,” she concluded. “We need to know what it is so that we can manage this space that we’re in.” For many adults, AI has been something introduced later in life, allowing for people to generate their own opinions on the matter and its usage. Children don’t have that same option cognitively. “Many young kids have this massive immersion in being controlled by a device in a way that no other generation has before,” she explained. “From a developmental perspective, we’re going to continue to see self-regulation benchmarks shift and kids are going to appear [more] immature.”
Through AI-literacy programs Kleinknecht believes that children can learn about how to interact with it more safely. “Kids need to know what AI is and what it isn’t,” she explains. In her opinion one of the largest threats posed by AI usage on children in their cognitive development is separating it from reality. “Kids need to understand that human-like doesn’t mean human,” she explains. “A [large] vulnerability of young kids is anthropomorphism.” Children often view AI as sentient or alive, but she believes through proper education they can grow a better overall understanding of it.
While AI has been a part of technology for many years, the popularization of generative AI has led to concerns of ethics and child cognitive development. Kleinknecht believes that since AI is already so embedded in our lives, it’s best to provide resources and education on its usage to help children understand it without harming the most impressionable stages of their development.
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