The Kids Are Going to Be All Right
Two months after my son asked me why he should bother learning to code, he figured out how to use AI tools to level up his studying on his own. Nobody taught him. He just saw the opportunity and got to work.
My son was feeling the existential dread around AI and his future relevance a couple of months ago, just like a lot of adults were. This is a rather mature worldview for a 16 year old.
Last night, I was checking in on his studying process. He has finally started to care about his grades, which is wonderful, and he has already figured out how to start leveraging AI tools to level up his capabilities.
Watching Him Work Was Impressive
He was working on World History, specifically World War I, and using Gemini to output notes and narrative around the events of WWI. He would take this output and check it against his textbook for accuracy, which is very smart because it means he already understands the importance of controlling for hallucinations.
His satisfactory output would then go into Claude to help create sample quizzes to study. He also had it create a structured report in PowerPoint and then took that output, altered it into his own words and tone, and created a presentation about WWI. He also created a very cool flowchart graphic with LLM output as well.
I have also seen him take photos of pages in his textbook or PDF handouts from his teacher, load them into a NotebookLM instance, and create his own quizzes to study.
Nobody Taught Him Any of This
I am super proud of his ability to take the current tools, adapt, and push them to enhance his output. I didn't coach him on any of it, and he didn't copy anyone else. He just saw a capability that was there to help him get closer to his goal of a 4.7 GPA this year and he got to work.
I was also quite impressed that he has already figured out that you have to use the right tool for the job. If you're only using one model right now, you're severely handicapped, and above choosing a model is another layer of picking tools that apply the models. The kid is already well ahead of most adults I know.
The Basic Narrative of the Human Condition Hasn't Changed
It's important to keep perspective that even though the tools are changing, the basic narrative of the human condition remains the same. Are you going to push yourself to learn and be efficient at the highest level possible, or are you going to wait around for someone else to direct you? This is the choice we all have day to day, every single day.
The tools are here, and they're ready to give you a promotion. The only question is whether you're ready to take it.