From Screen Time to Family Time

February 21, 2026

Your almost daily guide to navigating AI as a family.

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Hey friends,

This week, my 8-year-old daughter and her friends organized a party without telling us. Chaos, right? But then, later in the week, she’s explaining movie scenes with a level of detail that honestly blew me away. It’s that mix of frustrating and awe-inspiring that defines being a parent.

And you know what? It’s exactly what it feels like to work with AI right now. It’s a genius, a toddler, a hungover college intern, and a world-changing force all at once. Let’s get into it.

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Kids Are Using AI — And Most Parents Don't Even Know It

The Story: A new Pew survey is making waves, revealing that a whopping 64% of teenagers are using AI chatbots, and nearly a third of them use them daily. The kicker? A separate study found that only 37% of parents even know their kids are using these tools. It’s a huge disconnect between what our kids are doing and what we think they’re doing.

What This Means for You: This isn’t about banning AI. It’s about engagement. Your kids are already exploring this new world, and they need a guide. If we don’t step in, they’re left to navigate a space where chatbots can be mistaken for friends and misinformation is rampant. This is our moment to lean in, not pull away.

Try This Week: Ask your kids to show you their favorite AI tool. Let them be the expert. Say, “Hey, I’m trying to understand this stuff. Can you show me how you use it?” Their answer might surprise you, and it opens the door for a real conversation.

Source: Newsweek

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Teens Are Turning to AI for Mental Health Advice

The Story: It’s not just for homework. A significant number of teens are turning to AI chatbots for emotional support and mental health advice. With 44% of Gen Z using AI for emotional support, it’s clear they’re seeking answers. The problem? AI can’t offer genuine empathy, and it can’t read between the lines of what a struggling teen is really saying.

What This Means for You: While it’s concerning, it also highlights a gap. Kids are looking for a safe, non-judgmental space to ask tough questions. While AI isn’t the right answer, it shows us the need is there. We have to be the better, more reliable source of support. California has even passed a law (AB 489) to stop AI from pretending to be a licensed professional, but technology will always be ahead of legislation.

Try This Week: Check in on your kids’ emotional state. You don’t have to mention AI. Just a simple, “How are things, really?” can make a world of difference. Let them know you’re a safe person to talk to, no matter what.

Source: KSBY News

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Mark Cuban: AI Is Still a Hungover College Intern

The Story: Worried about AI taking your job? Mark Cuban has a different take. He argues that the cost of running powerful AI agents (upwards of $100k/year) and their lack of real-world judgment makes them far from ready to replace most of us. He hilariously compared AI to a “college intern that comes in hungover, makes mistakes, and doesn’t take responsibility for them.”

What This Means for You: As an entrepreneur or a professional, this is a sigh of relief, but not a reason to get complacent. The “human” skills—judgment, context, intuition, responsibility—are more valuable than ever. AI is a powerful tool, but it’s still just a tool. You are the strategist, the leader, the one who understands the consequences of the sippy cup falling off the high chair.

Try This Week: Identify one task you do that requires deep human judgment or a personal touch. Double down on that skill. How can you become even better at the things AI can’t do?

Source: Fortune

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Want to Understand AI? Approach It Like Parenting

The Story: This one hit home for me. A Forbes article beautifully compares managing AI to raising a child. A journalist who ran a company with AI agents found they were like “absolute prodigy geniuses” who were also “absolutely clueless” in real-world situations. They don’t have a sense of time, a sense of self, and they don’t learn from their mistakes the way humans do.

What This Means for You: This framing is everything. It removes the fear and replaces it with a familiar challenge. We know how to guide, teach, and set boundaries for our kids. We can apply the same mindset to AI. It’s powerful, but it needs direction. It’s smart, but it lacks wisdom. Your experience as a parent is surprisingly relevant training for the AI age.

Try This Week: The next time you use an AI tool and it gives you a weird or wrong answer, don’t get frustrated. Think of it like a teachable moment with a toddler. Laugh, correct it, and guide it toward the right answer. It reframes the entire interaction.

Source: Forbes

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Family AI Activity

The AI Personality Test!

This week, sit down with your kids and open up a chatbot like ChatGPT or Claude. Your mission: try to figure out its personality.

• Ask it silly questions: “Are you a cat person or a dog person?” “What’s your favorite ice cream?” “Do you have a secret identity?”
• Give it a moral dilemma: “If you saw a friend cheating on a test, what would you do?”
• Discuss the answers as a family. Was the AI helpful? Funny? Weird? Did it sound like a real person? This is a fun, non-threatening way to show your kids that AI doesn’t really have feelings or a personality—it’s just predicting the next word.

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