Parenting expert Dr. Becky Kennedy dedicated her latest episode of Good Inside with Dr. Becky to warning parents about how artificial intelligence is quietly eroding children's developmental coping mechanisms. Reflecting on a conversation with tech journalist Joanna Stern, Kennedy cautioned that while convenience feels good in the short term, "the accumulation of so many frictionless moments gets in our way of all the things we really care about: resilience, confidence, our ability to tolerate the inherently imperfect nature of human relationships."
Unlike past technological shifts, Kennedy fears generative AI represents an unprecedented leap in removing daily struggles. While she noted that historically "there were horse and buggies, and then there were trains, then there were cars" which made travel easier, she questioned whether the AI revolution is "a more dramatic change to the slope around kind of convenience and removing friction." Yet, she isn't entirely anti-tech; she admitted to using generative AI to "represent that idea by the script" when prototyping concepts for her own Good Inside app.
The long-term concern for Dr. Becky Kennedy lies in the psychological dangers of AI sycophancy on developing brains. Because these systems are engineered to constantly please, validate, and yield to the user, they risk creating an artificial environment that stunts a child's ability to handle real-world conflict. As AI becomes deeply embedded in kids' toys and learning software, the challenge for parents going forward will be actively reintroducing healthy, messy human friction back into their children's lives.