The other day, I was reflecting on how different my childhood was from my younger brother’s. We both grew up in the same house, with the same parents, yet our childhoods feel worlds apart. When I was little, learning meant relying on books, YouTube tutorials, textbooks, and sheet music. If I wanted to learn something new, I had to search, watch, read, and struggle through it on my own.

Now, he can just open an AI-powered app. Literally.

Watching him is refreshing. He doesn’t see technology, or AI,  as strange or futuristic. To him, it’s normal. It’s just part of the world. He even knows what “AI” stands for.

That’s what gets me.

At such a young age, growing up in a world dominated by technology, it makes me wonder how big an impact this will have on his generation. He understands things I didn’t really grasp until high school. His questions aren’t about what technology is, no,  they’re about what it can do. Yeah, weird. I know!

This shift says a lot about the world he’s growing into. And it’s not just him. It’s shaping how kids learn everywhere. For better or worse? I honestly don’t know. And that uncertainty… that’s what scares me.

To talk about the different ways kids learn now, we have to go back to what actually makes people learn in the first place. One of the biggest things is something called “productive struggle.”

The University of San Diego explains it like this: “When students engage in this strategic challenge, they’re encouraged to make more attempts than they may be used to and persevere through frustration to solve a problem. The goal is bigger than providing a correct answer — it’s about the process of getting there.”

And that makes pretty darn good sense.

Learning has never really been about just getting the right answer. It’s about the frustration, the crashouts, and the tears before the answer. The part where you’re stuck. The part where you reread the question three times. The part where you try, fail, and try again. This is the solid foundation that is being built. The foundation on which everything else, all your other knowledge, relies. The foundation upon which you build upon.

When we just read notes and think we understand something, we usually don’t. You only really understand a concept when you’ve had to sit with it, work through it, and struggle a little. Hence, productive struggle.

So when AI gives instant summaries, lists step-by-step solutions, or even writes out ideas for you… what happens to that struggle?

I’m not saying AI is generally bad. It can be helpful. It can explain things better than a textbook sometimes. But if it steps in a little too early in the cycle, before someone even tries, are we skipping the part that actually makes learning stick to our heads?

That’s the part I keep thinking about when I watch kids use these apps.

Is AI helping them think deeper?
Or just helping them get answers faster?

And honestly… I don’t fully know yet, I guess we will see.

According to Gen Unison, the author G.K. explains that the Gen-Alpha generation, kids born between the years 2012–2025, are the first to grow up immersed in technology and artificial intelligence. For these kids, they are introduced to screen time at quite an early age of two. Nearly 40% of children in the US are already using tablets, sometimes for three hours a day. And by the time these children reach the age of 8–12 years old, their average screen time increases to 4–6 hours daily.

But there are real concerns here. Excessive screen time and early reliance on AI could shape how kids think, learn, and interact in ways we don’t fully understand yet. When a child is used to instant solutions, they may struggle with patience, persistence, or problem-solving. The productive struggle, that moment of being stuck, trying, and failing, is crucial for building resilience and deeper understanding. Skipping it could make learning feel shallow or disconnected from real-world challenges.

This is the reason for my valid concerns on how completely utterly doomed (or not doomed) the children of the next generation are. In a world where self-control is already wearing thin, Artificial intelligence may snap it to two.

Kids are not fragile creatures waiting to be ruined by technology. They are adaptive. Curious. Incredibly intelligent in ways we sometimes underestimate. They are born with potential. Just because their childhood looks different than ours does not automatically mean it is worse.

Every generation grows up with something new that adults worry about. Television. The internet. Social media. And yet, people adapt. That’s human nature; we have always found ways to adapt. Even in the most unlikely and pessimistic conditions, resilience is not a new thing for us. We were born to withstand adversities.

So, the real question is not whether AI will exist in their lives. It already does. The question is how they will learn to use it, ethically, morally, intelligently, and most importantly, in ways that won’t replace their ability to think and reason for themselves.

AI can become a shortcut, or it can become a tool. It can replace thinking, or it can enhance it. That difference does not depend on the technology itself. It depends on guidance and awareness, awareness I am trying to spread.

If children are taught to question AI, to verify information, to attempt problems before asking for help, then maybe AI will not erase productive struggle. Maybe it will reshape it, and maybe that won’t be all that bad.

Struggle might no longer look like flipping through textbooks for hours or watching a dozen Youtube tutorials on Microfluidics (don’t ask). It might look like learning how to ask better questions. How to challenge an answer. How to recognize when something feels incomplete.

And maybe in its own way, this is a new kind of resilience.

So, instead of asking whether kids are doomed, maybe the question we should be asking is whether or not we are preparing them properly. Are we teaching them discipline alongside access? Curiosity alongside convenience? Are we making them ready for the world they are going to grow up in?

Because AI is not raising this generation, not yet at least.

We are.

And the way we frame these tools, limit them, and integrate them in our daily lives will determine whether they weaken minds for the worse or strengthen them for the better.

So no, I do not fully know what the long-term impact will be.

But I do know this: childhood is changing. And instead of fearing that change entirely, we should focus on shaping it with intention, purpose, and meaning.

Thanks for reading. You didn’t have to stay, but you did, and that tells me enough. If this made you think, laugh, or stare at the wall for a bit, I’ve done my job. I’ll let you decide whether it meant something. Most things do.