The Kids Might Be Right About AI

Renee:

We were sitting around the kitchen table the other night talking about AI again, which has somehow become a surprisingly regular topic in our house lately.

Eden immediately groaned.

“You guys are obsessed with AI. Everything already feels fake enough.”

That is basically her official position on the entire subject.

And I kind of get it.

While adults are running around talking about optimization, automation, and efficiency, many younger people seem completely exhausted by how artificial the world already feels.

What makes it interesting is that neither of our kids is anti-technology.

Far from it.

I occasionally overhear Xen casually mentioning using AI to help with writing code for school assignments, which opens an entirely different parenting conversation about what even counts as “cheating” anymore.

Eden is actually incredibly tech-savvy.

She knows editing software better than I do half the time, creates beautiful presentations for school projects, and somehow understands iPhone camera settings on a level that feels mildly alarming for a sixteen-year-old.

She loves creating. But AI? Absolutely not.

To her, there is a huge difference between using technology as a creative tool and using it to replace your own thinking.

And I think that distinction is important.

So this is not really about rejecting technology.

It is about craving authenticity and I feel that tension too.

I eye-roll constantly, reading certain marketing emails these days.

You know the ones.

Every sentence sounds emotionally dramatic. There are seventeen emojis. Everyone is “deeply honored” and “wildly excited” and somehow using the exact same phrases.

At some point, polished starts feeling empty.

I actually found myself quietly chuckling at a high school graduation last week because the contrast was so obvious to me. The principal’s speech felt just polished enough that I found myself wondering if AI had helped write part of it.

But the students?

Not polished, not overly refined, not perfect, and somehow that made them feel far more real. 

Mark:

I think that is the part people are missing right now.

Technology itself is not really the problem.

Every generation has experienced major shifts in how humans communicate and create. The internet changed things. Smartphones changed things. Social media changed things.

AI is simply the next version of that conversation.

But it is forcing all of us to become more intentional.

Because when anyone can generate content instantly, humanity becomes more valuable, not less.

Real stories matter more, perspective matters more, and personality matters more.

And I think younger generations recognize fake faster than we do.

They grew up online, and they can spot forced authenticity immediately.

Renee:

I think that is why I struggle when people use AI to completely replace themselves rather than support themselves.

There is a difference between using technology to help organize your thoughts and using it to manufacture a personality.

And I love certain uses of AI. I use it daily.

We use it in our businesses, and I will admit, I have used it for personal things too. But I'm glad I have.

Not long ago, I took a picture of a concerning mole and ran it through an AI tool. It immediately responded:

“Renee, you should get that checked. It could be cancer.”

I already suspected something was not right, and it did end up being skin cancer, but in that moment, AI absolutely served as an assist.

That is where I think this conversation gets more nuanced.

Technology can help brainstorm ideas, organize information, clean things up, save time, and remove repetitive tasks that drain energy.

But there is still a massive difference between using technology to support your humanity and using it to replace it.

But when I read something that technically sounds perfect while somehow saying absolutely nothing, I can feel it immediately, and I think most people can…especially younger people.

That is the irony in all of this.

The generation raised with the most technology may actually crave humanity the most.

Not perfection, not optimization, not manufactured connection, just something real.

Mark:

I think that is where this conversation becomes especially important for entrepreneurs.

Because AI can absolutely become a powerful tool, but tools amplify intention.

If someone is already disconnected from their own voice, AI can make that disconnect louder.

But if someone is deeply connected to who they are and what they want to say, technology can help reduce friction, allowing them to create and connect more freely.

That is a very different thing.

Mark and Renee:

Maybe the real question is not whether AI belongs in business, creativity, or even everyday life.

Maybe the real question is whether you are still recognizable in the things you create.

Technology will keep evolving, but humanity is still the part people connect with.