AI-Proofing Our Children — and Ourselves
I recently came across two quotes that really made me pause and reflect.
The first was from an article titled “Can AI-Proof Your Career—and Your Children’s Future?” The author suggests that students need to cultivate higher-level thinking skills, along with flexibility and the ability to adapt.
That line stayed with me. What exactly are these higher-level thinking skills? What does it truly mean to be flexible or adaptable?
We often talk about resilience in our children — but what does resilience mean in today’s world, where change is constant and the statistics about the future of work can feel sobering?
Just today, I read another piece by Maureen Dowd in The New York Times, titled “Bros Need Some Bros.” In it, she quoted someone who said that as the novelty of AI fades and it becomes simply part of daily life, “the genuine human connection between people — men and women of all ages — will become the most valuable social currency.”
That resonated deeply. “Something real, something with soul, something tender, vulnerable, and sincere…”, that’s what we’re craving. The human condition is complicated, and no algorithm can replicate that complexity.
It reminded me that AI can’t teach our children how to be soulful, heart-centered human beings. So how do we raise children who are grounded in those values — in our values?
I believe it starts with us. Before we can “AI-proof” our children, we have to “AI-proof” ourselves. That means pausing to ask:
What do I truly value?
Am I living in alignment with those values?
How do I stay grounded — in my soul, in tenderness, in sincerity — when the world around me is rapidly changing?
It’s easy to look outward for solutions — to read the next article, download the next app, follow the next parenting trend. But perhaps the most powerful thing we can do for our children’s future is to look inward.
When we live our values with authenticity and heart, our children don’t just learn them — they embody them.
Maybe AI-proofing the future isn’t really about outsmarting technology. Maybe it’s about remembering, and reclaiming, what makes us deeply, beautifully human.
