Will my child fall behind without AI?

Probably not. The research so far points the other way: kids who use AI to get answers can learn less. What will matter is understanding how AI works, judging its answers and strong thinking skills, which children can build with little or no AI use before their teens.

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Ask Poppy is voice-first homework help for kids around 7 to 10, and teens and adults too: it asks what you have tried and gives one hint at a time, so you learn how to find the answer. Free with 30 messages a day, then $3.99/week or $9.99/month (US App Store) · iPhone, iPad, Mac

Written by the Ask Poppy team, who make one of the tools mentioned here. The advice works with any AI, or none. We haven't run a controlled study of our own app.

What the evidence says

Answer-giving AI can hurt learning: unrestricted ChatGPT help lowered later unaided test scores by 17% in a study of about 1,000 high-school students, while a hint-giving version did not (Bastani et al., PNAS, 2025).
Heavy AI use is linked with less critical thinking in adults, especially younger ones, though that study shows a link, not a cause (Gerlich, Societies, 2025).
A small MIT preprint found people writing essays with ChatGPT remembered less of their own work; it used adults and isn't peer-reviewed yet (Kosmyna et al., arXiv preprint, 2025).

None of these show that kids who skip AI fall behind. They suggest the skills AI can't give you matter more, not less.

What "keeping up" actually means

	Without much AI	With AI, used well
Understanding how AI works	Talk about it, read about it, watch a parent use it	Use it together and spot its mistakes
Judging answers	Compare sources, ask "how do you know?"	Ask the AI how to check its answer
Thinking skills	Writing, maths, explaining out loud	AI that asks questions and gives hints, not answers
Working with AI tools later	Learned quickly by teens with strong basics	Practise giving clear instructions and checking the result

A reasonable plan by age

Under 10, build curiosity, reading and explaining out loud, with AI mostly as something you use together. From about 10, let them try AI with an adult nearby, focused on asking good questions. From 13, when most chatbots allow accounts, let them use it on their own with clear house rules: hints, not answers, and their own words in anything they hand in. UNESCO's student framework is a useful checklist (UNESCO AI competency framework for students).

Where Ask Poppy fits

We built Ask Poppy around these ideas. It's a voice-first companion: a child holds to talk, and Poppy asks what they already know and offers one hint at a time instead of leading with the answer. Parents can add up to three child profiles, open each child's conversations (children are told a parent can see them), and turn memory off per child. A one-button, screen-free Poppy device is in development. You can reserve one on askpoppy.ai with a fully refundable $30 toward a planned $200 price; estimated shipping is spring 2027. The app works fully without it. Like any AI, Poppy can make mistakes, which is one more reason to keep an adult involved.

Sources (checked Oct 2026): Bastani et al., PNAS, 2025 · Gerlich, Societies, 2025 · Kosmyna et al., arXiv preprint, 2025 · UNESCO AI competency framework for students · OpenAI Help: age requirements. Ask Poppy facts are from the current app (version 1.8.3) and its App Store listing. US prices; they vary by country and platform. Spot something out of date? Email [email protected].

Want AI that builds the skills instead? Ask Poppy is voice-first homework help, built first for kids around 7 to 10 and their parents. Your child talks the question through, and Poppy asks what they've tried and gives one hint at a time instead of handing over the answer, so they learn how to find it. Parents set up each child's profile and can see their conversations, and memory can be turned off per child. Teens and adults use it too. A one-button, screen-free Poppy device is in development.

Free with 30 messages a day, then $3.99/week or $9.99/month (US App Store prices) on iPhone, iPad and Mac. (Disclosure: this site is made by the Ask Poppy team.)

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Questions

Will my child fall behind if they don't use AI?

Probably not in the way people fear. The research so far shows the main risk runs the other way: kids who use AI to get answers can learn less. What matters for later is understanding how AI works, judging its answers, and the thinking skills underneath, all of which can be built with little or no AI use.

At what age should kids start using AI?

Most chatbots require users to be 13 or older. Before that, AI literacy can be taught without a chatbot: talk about how AI makes mistakes, and let them watch you use it.

Does using AI make kids smarter?

It depends on how. In a PNAS study of about 1,000 high-school students, an AI that gave answers raised practice scores but lowered later test scores without AI by 17%; a version that gave hints did not cause that drop.

What skills will matter most when AI is everywhere?

Asking good questions, checking information, explaining your reasoning, and knowing when not to use AI. UNESCO's framework for students puts a human-centred mindset and ethics alongside AI techniques.

By Simon Dreyer, founder of Ask Poppy · Last updated 28 October 2026 · How we write these pages