Parents and Teachers Don’t Need to Be AI Experts, But Students Still Need Their Guidance
“. The most important guidance is often about judgement, responsibility and how young people think. AI should support learning rather than replace the thinking a student needs to...”
Parents and teachers do not need to become AI experts to guide young people well.
The most important guidance is often about judgement, responsibility and how young people think.
AI should support learning rather than replace the thinking a student needs to practise.
Families and schools can learn about AI alongside young people instead of pretending to have every answer.
Simple conversations and habits can help students become more independent and responsible AI users.
Key Answer
Parents and teachers do not need deep technical expertise in AI. Their most important role is to help young people think critically, use technology responsibly, protect their judgement, and know when AI should and shouldn’t be used.
AI & the Future
Standing in the backyard of my Melbourne home, I watched a large crow approach a nest while two smaller birds defended it.
The crow was bigger and stronger. But the smaller birds acted with purpose, courage and a clear instinct to protect their young.
Watching them made me think about the role parents and teachers have as young people grow up alongside artificial intelligence.
Many adults feel they are already behind.
New AI tools appear constantly. Students often try them before their parents or teachers do. And it can feel difficult to guide a young person through a technology you are still learning about yourself.
But you do not need to know everything about AI to provide good guidance.
Young people still need adults who help them develop judgement, curiosity, empathy, discipline and personal responsibility.
We may not know the future our children will enter, but we can help prepare the person who will enter it.
Young People Still Need Guidance
Recent research from Child Trends found that most parents of middle and high school students surveyed wanted schools to teach responsible AI use, even while many remained concerned about how AI could affect learning.
That tension is understandable.
Parents can see the possibilities AI offers while also wondering:
Is my child actually learning?
Can they trust what the AI tells them?
Are they becoming too dependent on it?
What information are they sharing?
When is using AI helpful, and when does it become a shortcut?
These are not questions that require a computer science degree. They require conversation, judgement and involvement.
Teachers face a similar challenge.
They may not know every AI product their students encounter. They do, however, understand what a student is supposed to learn. That distinction matters. The goal is not for adults to know more about every piece of technology than young people do.
The goal is to help young people make better decisions about how they use it.
The Human Skills Still Matter
AI can explain a difficult concept. It can generate ideas. It can help draft an answer. It can summarise information in seconds. But young people still need to decide whether that information makes sense.
They need to recognise when something may be wrong. They need to communicate with other people. They need empathy, curiosity, and resilience when something is difficult. And they need the confidence to think for themselves.
Technology may change rapidly, but these capabilities do not suddenly become irrelevant. In many ways, they become more important.
AI Should Support the Thinking, Not Do All of It
One of the most useful habits we can teach young people is to avoid going straight from a question to an AI-generated answer.
I use a simple Future Ready framework:
Think → Ask AI → Compare → Verify → Explain
Think: What do I already know? What is my initial view?
Ask AI: Use AI to explore the question, generate another perspective or help explain something you do not understand.
Compare: How does the AI response compare with your own thinking or other information?
Verify: Check important claims using reliable sources.
Explain: Can you explain the final idea in your own words?
That final step is important.
If a student can copy an answer but cannot explain it, the task may be complete, but the learning may not be. The aim is not to remove AI from learning. It is to keep the young person doing the thinking.
Logan’s Perspective
After more than four decades working with technology, and more than a decade as a grandfather, I have seen tools change enormously. But one thing has remained remarkably consistent. Young people benefit from adults who take an interest in what they are doing, ask thoughtful questions and help them develop good judgement.
With AI, adults do not need to pretend they know everything. In fact, saying “I don’t know – let’s look at it together” can be valuable. It shows a young person that learning does not stop when you become an adult.
Parents and teachers can be co-pilots. We do not need to control every step of the journey. But we should still help young people understand where they are going and how to make good decisions along the way.
Five Practical Things Parents and Teachers Can Do
You do not need a detailed AI programme at home or in every classroom.
Start with small actions.
1. Ask How They Are Using AI
Instead of beginning with: “Are you using AI for your homework?” try: “How did AI help you with this?” or: “What part did you do yourself?”
The aim is to create conversation rather than immediate judgement. Understanding how a young person is already using AI gives you a much better starting point for guidance.
2. Explore an AI Tool Together
You do not need to demonstrate expertise. Choose something simple and try it together. Ask the same question in different ways. See whether the answer changes. Ask it for something you already know well and look for mistakes.
This helps young people see that AI is a tool to investigate, not an authority that must always be trusted.
3. Use the Think → Ask AI → Compare → Verify → Explain Framework
Encourage students to begin with their own thinking before turning to AI.
This small change helps keep AI in a supporting role.
It also makes discussions about AI less focused on whether its use is simply “allowed” or “not allowed” and more focused on whether it actually supports learning.
4. Teach Them to Check Important Information
Ask: “How could we find out whether this is true?” Help young people compare AI-generated information with reliable sources.
They should gradually develop the habit of checking important facts rather than accepting an answer because it sounds confident.
5. Talk About What Should Stay Private
AI literacy is also about knowing what not to share.
Discuss personal information, passwords, private family information, school records, confidential material and other sensitive content.
A useful question is: “Does the AI actually need this information to help me?” If it does not, there is usually no reason to provide it.
Protection and Preparation Are Not the Same Thing
As parents and educators, our instinct is often to protect young people. That is important. Children need boundaries.
Some technologies and situations require restrictions, particularly depending on age and maturity. But protection alone is not enough. We also need to prepare them.
If we simply keep young people away from every difficult decision, they do not get opportunities to practise making good ones. Preparation means gradually helping them develop the judgement to navigate technology independently.
Instead of only saying: “Don’t use AI.”, we can also ask:
“When would AI be useful here?”
“When might it stop you from learning?”
“What could go wrong if the answer is inaccurate?”
“What information should you not share?”
“How will you know whether the result is trustworthy?”
Those conversations build capability, and eventually, capability is what young people will need when a parent or teacher is no longer standing beside them.
Teachers Do Not Need to Know Every Tool Either
Teachers face enormous pressure to keep up with technology. But their greatest value is not knowing the features of every new AI application.
It is knowing how learning happens.
A teacher understands why a student needs to wrestle with a particular problem. They understand when practice matters. They can see the difference between assistance and avoidance. And they can ask a student to explain their reasoning. That becomes particularly important when AI can produce polished work very quickly.
The question is no longer simply: “Did the student produce an answer?” We increasingly need to ask: “What did the student understand?”
AI changes the tool. It does not remove the purpose of education.
Families Can Learn Together
Parents sometimes assume they need to understand AI first and then teach it to their children.
It does not have to work that way. Try reversing the roles. Ask your child to show you an AI tool they use. Let them explain what it does. Try something together. Question an answer together. Look up a source together. Talk about when you use AI in your own work or daily life.
This makes responsible AI use part of an ongoing family conversation rather than a one-off lecture.
It also sends an important message: Nobody has finished learning.
Guidance Is More Valuable Than Expertise
AI will continue to change. The tool a student uses today may be replaced by something much more capable in a few years. Trying to master every product is therefore an impossible target for parents and teachers. Values and judgement are more durable.
Can the young person ask good questions?
Can they recognise when they need more information?
Can they verify what they see?
Can they use technology without allowing it to replace their own thinking?
Can they consider how their actions affect other people?
Can they take responsibility for what they create and share?
Watching those two small birds protect their nest reminded me of something simple.
Guidance does not depend on being the biggest, strongest or most technologically knowledgeable person in the room.
It begins with caring enough to remain involved. Parents and teachers do not need to predict every technology young people will encounter. We do not need to have every answer. But we can keep asking questions. We can encourage curiosity. We can model responsible behaviour. We can help young people recognise when technology is supporting their growth and when it is doing too much of the work for them. And we can gradually give them the judgement and confidence to make those decisions for themselves.
That is not technical expertise. That is preparation.
Continue the Future Ready Journey
These ideas are explored further in FUTURE READY™ -Small Steps. Big Dreams., a practical guide for students, parents and educators preparing for an AI-shaped future.
Explore Future Ready and discover practical ways to help young people stay curious, think independently, build human skills and use AI with purpose.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do parents need to understand AI to guide their children?
Useful questions include: “How did AI help you?” “What did you do yourself?” “How do you know this answer is correct?” “What information did you share?” and “Could you explain the answer in your own words?”
What valuesWhat should parents ask children about their AI use? will young people need in the AI age?
Young people will need empathy, critical thinking, adaptability, and ethical judgement to thrive alongside AI technologies.
How can teachers help students use AI responsibly?
Teachers can establish clear expectations and use frameworks such as Think → Ask AI → Compare → Verify → Explain to make sure AI supports learning rather than replacing the thinking students need to practise.
What values will young people need as AI becomes more common?
Curiosity, empathy, responsibility, adaptability, critical thinking and good judgement will remain important. AI literacy should develop alongside these human capabilities rather than replace them
How can families learn about AI together?
Families can explore tools together, discuss where AI appears in everyday life, compare its answers with reliable information and talk openly about privacy, accuracy and appropriate use.
What is the difference between protecting young people and preparing them?
Protection reduces immediate risks. Preparation helps young people develop the judgement and skills to deal with those risks independently as they grow. Young people need both.
With over 40 years of international experience across computing, telecommunications, digital strategy, and AI enablement, Logan Nathan mentors students and advises institutions worldwide on thriving in the intelligence era.
