In their living room in South Korea, a father uses generative artificial intelligence (Genai) to transform his son’s drawings into video and new clips while a new type of game takes shape.
Each week, the Kim family goes to the library to choose a book. They read it together, discuss a subject of interest and create basic knowledge.
Knowing that young children cannot get involved with the tools of AI independently, Father Kim Jungu is preparing a short 30 -minute AI session by writing tailor -made guests.
During the session, his five -year -old Dohun son joined AI through creative activities, such as the conception of an imaginary planet or the writing of a story taking place in the Constellation of Orion.
The tutor has contributed by asking follow -up questions and offering new information related to the subject.
“He really likes what I found because each time, AI gives him very interesting questions and also superb mathematical or scientific knowledge. I therefore think he thinks he learns something every week,” said Kim, who works as a product director (CPO) in a computer company, told Euronews Next.
Dohun likes space and drawing. Kim thinks that AI is a useful tool that can answer questions that parents cannot and help his son “explore his imagination and creativity”.
“I can see that his agenda is developing. Last week, we explored the solar systems. But at the moment, he explores the outside side of the solar system. The AI continually gives him some of the seeds of the idea,” he added.
If it thinks it is positive that AI can help expand children’s knowledge, it is aware of an excessive exception to technology.
“It is also important that they do not depend too much. As a parent, I think of how to carefully guide this process. Managing personal learning data is another concern,” said Kim.
Critical thinking is essential
AI education experts say the most important thing is the part itself, and parents must be aware that the intensity of a session is properly timed according to the age of their child.
“They could just as easily play with Legos …” Kwon Jungmin, a teacher specializing in AI education at the National University of Education in Seoul, said Euronews Next.
“From my point of view, what they play does not really matter as long as they build a good relationship [even if] They use AI as a medium, “she continued.
“But if it was more frequent or if it was perhaps more than two hours a day, it could be too much. It depends on the age of the child and their interest.”
Kwon says parents should make sure their children can discern between AI and humans.
“If the child plays with Ai by himself, then that could be a problem because he thinks that, for example, the Chatppt is a living real being,” said Kwon.
“But when a parent is involved, what the parent thinks and how the parent interacts with AI is important because children learn while observing. So you have to look very carefully at AI, what parents and the child do with AI”.
Kwon says that the accent should not be put on AI. Instead, education in the AI era should feed critical thinking by teaching children to children such as human sciences, literature and philosophy.
“What is more important is how this child considers the Chatppt,” said Kwon.
“If the child has no educational experience on learning how these technologies, then the child will simply see him as a person with greater power and knowledge, which will ultimately lead to technology,” she added.
“However, if the child has an educational experience and learning philosophies; what is a human being? What does it mean to live? What does it mean to be a human? With all this basic knowledge and critical thinking, this child of the IAL will be very different from a child who has never learned. And that is the kind of people we need at the moment.”
Increasing pressure from the private education sector
Throughout South Korea, the interest in AI education is booming. While some families such as Kims are exploring more organic approaches and based on home games, schools and private academies integrate the coding and literacy of AI in their programs.
Some also use AI monitoring systems to follow student learning progress.
“The Korean Private Education Market is large … This sector only exists for entry exams in college. The entrance exam to college is very important in Korea because it decides the social status of where you are going to be. So people, they invest a lot of money in the education of their children so that they can [reach a] higher status, “said Kwon.
In Europe, the AI Act recently adopted by the EU – which was to come into force from August 2027 – classifies AI systems as a high risk for certain areas of education, such as systems to assess learning results, assessment of education levels and detection of prohibited behavior of students, according to a European parliamentary research service report.
For Kim, it’s not about teaching technology early. It is a question of creating space so that his son imagines, combining ideas and exploring.
While experimenting with AI for playing at home, he began to notice at what speed, private education transformed AI into a high challenging race.
He says that the messaging of the private education sector, warning that children without AI skills will be left behind, is rooted in fear.
“It is not a question of starting early out of fear,” he wrote in an article in Treats where he shares his AI game experience with other parents.
“It’s about nourishing creativity – exploring, combining, imagining. This counts more than technology itself.”
Instead, he believes in open dialogue and sharing experience in a system that looks greatly towards the preparation of admission exams to university.
“We live in a world that changes quickly. And the next 10 years that our children will live will be completely different from what we have known,” said Kim.
“If there is a good method or a good tool, I think it is important not to keep it for yourself but to share and talk to it with others so that we can find better instructions together,” he added.
Kim says he was encouraged by the number of parents who contacted in response to the AI sessions he shared online.
Efforts to combat division AI in Europe
Although concerns have been raised in Korea, Kwon thinks that Europe is well placed to educate children at AI.
“From the government’s point of view, the economy is important and the competition between countries is important. However, for children, no, they should not worry about the economy,” said Kwon.
“We have to worry about their critical thinking, which is more similar to the European model because the European model, they think critically of AI. They are late to adopt AI. But I think they have very good philosophical reasons for developing ethical AI,” she added.
In Europe, political decision -makers introduce the literacy of AI into early education, often reflecting it as a fundamental competence for the future.
A key objective is to ensure that access to this type of education is fair so that all children, regardless of their history, can navigate in an AI -focused world, a stage of UNESCO calls essential.
The United Kingdom created an independent committee of experts, the AI Council in 2019 to advise the government on the AI ecosystem. The Council says that his vision is “for everyone to be able to live with confidence with AI”.
In a report published in 2021, the Council suggested that an online academy for the understanding of AI with equipment and trust initiatives would support teachers, school students and learning throughout life.
Kim thinks that children should know how to communicate with AI because it will be impossible for them to avoid it from school to another everywhere else.
“My idea is that they should know how they can take advantage of AI for their creativity and education,” he said.
“Children have a lot of great potential. But that [can be] really difficult, as adults, to [keep up with] Their creativity potential, “added Kim.
“AI could give them [children] knowledge so that they can extend their creativity. Because creativity comes from curiosity. But I believe that creativity can develop from knowledge. So I found the potential that AI could help [with] creative growth “.
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