From Screen Time to Family Time

January 28, 2026

Your almost everyday guide to using AI for your business, not against your family.

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Hey friends,

Last night, my three-year-old decided her stuffed bunny, Floppy, needed to join our family dinner. Not on the chair, but at the table . This led to a 10-minute negotiation over whether Floppy needed a plate of real carrots. My eight-year-old, ever the pragmatist, just wanted to know if this meant she had to share her dessert with a stuffed animal.

It’s moments like these—silly, chaotic, and completely unscripted—that I’m fighting for. As a parent entrepreneur, it’s so easy for work to bleed into every corner of life. AI is this incredible tool for getting time back, but it's also moving at a dizzying pace. Let's break down what actually mattered this week, so you can get back to negotiating with bunnies.

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1. Your Future AI Assistant Just Went Viral (But You Can't Use It Yet)

The Story: A new personal AI assistant called Moltbot (it was called Clawdbot until the lawyers got involved) has exploded on the developer scene. It promises to be an AI that actually does things —managing your calendar, sending messages, even checking you in for flights. It’s open-source and runs on your own machine, not in the cloud, which is a big deal for privacy.

What This Means for You: Let's be honest, you and I aren't going to be installing this thing this weekend. It's super technical. But Moltbot is a huge signpost for where we're headed. We're moving past AI that just answers questions to AI that takes action . Imagine an assistant that doesn't just remind you about a client's birthday, but drafts the email and queues up a gift card purchase for your approval. That's the future this little lobster-themed app is pointing to.

Try This Week: You can't try Moltbot, but you can start thinking like it. Identify one repetitive, multi-step task in your business. Write down the exact steps. That's your future prompt for an AI assistant. Being ready is half the battle.

Source: TechCrunch

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2. The CEO of a $350B AI Company is Telling Us to Wake Up

The Story: Dario Amodei, the CEO of Anthropic (the company behind the AI model Claude), just dropped a massive 19,000-word essay warning that we are on the cusp of incredibly powerful AI. He’s not talking about sci-fi; he’s talking about a 1-2 year timeline for AI that is smarter than Nobel-winning experts and can build its own systems. He says this will "test who we are as a species."

What This Means for You: When a guy whose company is worth $350 billion tells you to pay attention, you listen. This isn’t about fear; it’s about awareness. The pace of change is accelerating, and it will directly impact the job market our kids will enter. Amodei himself has warned that AI could slash entry-level white-collar jobs and spike unemployment in the next five years. The world is changing, fast.

Try This Week: Have a real conversation with your kids about this. Not to scare them, but to prepare them. Ask them what they think AI will be good at in the future. Talk about the skills that will always be human: creativity, building relationships, and thinking critically about the world. The goal isn't to have all the answers, but to start the dialogue.

Source: The Guardian

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3. Why Your Kids Might Actually Listen to an AI-Powered Broccoli

The Story: A bizarre and brilliant trend is taking over TikTok: AI-generated talking fruits and vegetables giving out kitchen advice. Think of a sassy tomato telling you not to put it in the fridge, or a piece of pasta begging you not to add oil to the water. And the weirdest part? Adults are calling it "Cocomelon for adults" and are actually learning from it.

What This Means for You: This is a masterclass in modern education. A media psychologist explained that these cartoon veggies remove the "ego threat" of being told what to do. There’s no judgment, no feeling like you should already know this stuff. It’s just fun, low-stakes learning. For us as parents, it’s a powerful reminder that how we teach is as important as what we teach.

Try This Week: This one’s easy and fun. Pull up TikTok with your kids and search for "AI vegetables kitchen hacks." Watch a few together. You’ll probably learn something, you’ll definitely laugh, and you’ll be sharing a moment where AI is genuinely helpful and not just another distraction.

Source: New York Post

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4. OpenAI Just Made a Free Tool to Help Your Kid Ace Their Science Fair Project

The Story: On Tuesday, OpenAI released Prism, a free AI-powered workspace designed specifically for scientific research. It’s like a super-smart word processor that’s integrated with their latest model, GPT-5.2. It can help find research papers, revise writing, and even turn whiteboard sketches into polished diagrams. It’s built to accelerate the work of actual scientists, but it’s free for anyone with a ChatGPT account.

What This Means for You: This is another example of AI moving from a novelty to a genuine productivity tool. In 2025, AI changed the game for coders. OpenAI is betting that in 2026, it will do the same for science. For our kids, this is a game-changer. A tool that was once the domain of elite labs is now available to anyone with a curious mind and an internet connection. It lowers the barrier to entry for serious research.

Try This Week: If you have a child even remotely interested in science, sit down with them and open up Prism. Pick a topic for a hypothetical science fair project. Use it to brainstorm ideas, find a few sources, and maybe even sketch out a diagram. Show them that AI isn’t just for writing essays; it’s for discovering new things.

Source: TechCrunch

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Family AI Activity: The "Story-Go-Round"

Title: The Never-Ending Story-Go-Round

What it is: A collaborative storytelling game where your family and an AI take turns building a story, with a twist—each chapter comes with its own unique, AI-generated illustration.

How it works: 1. The Setup (2 mins): Open up Gemini 3 or ChatGPT 4. The grown-up starts with the prompt. Something like: "We're going to write a story together. I'll write the first paragraph, and then you'll write the second paragraph. After your paragraph, generate a picture in the style of a beautiful children's storybook illustration that shows what just happened. Then, I'll write the third paragraph, you'll write the fourth and create a picture, and so on. Let's begin." 2. The First Spark (3 mins): One of the kids provides the opening scene. Let them be as wild as they want. "A grumpy squirrel named Albert just found a tiny, glowing spaceship in his favorite oak tree." 3. The AI's Turn (5 mins): The grown-up types that first paragraph into the chat. The AI will write the next part of the story and generate the first image. The kids will go wild seeing their idea come to life instantly. 4. Keep it Going (10-15 mins): Now it's your family's turn again. Read the AI's paragraph aloud and look at the picture. What happens next? Maybe the spaceship door opens, or maybe Albert tries to hide the spaceship from his nosy neighbor, a bluejay named Beatrice. Add your paragraph, and have the AI continue. 5. The Grand Finale: Go back and forth for as long as you want. When you're done, you'll have a 5-10 page illustrated storybook that you created together.

Why it works: This isn't just about making a story. It’s about collaboration, creativity, and seeing ideas visualized in real-time. The kids learn to build on each other's ideas (and the AI's!), and the instant visual feedback is pure magic. It keeps them engaged and excited to see what happens next.

Time: 20-25 minutes Ages: 4-10 (The little ones can shout out ideas, the older ones can help write)

The Real Win: These aren't just 'AI activities.' They're family time that happens to use AI as a tool. You’re creating a shared memory and a tangible thing—a storybook—that you can look back on. That’s a win.