This hit me hard. The poem isn't the problem — the feeling that his own voice wasn't enough is what hurts. That's exactly why we built AI Button: to help people see the difference between synthetic output and human creativity, and to protect the spark of someone wanting to make something themselves. We're not against kids using AI, but we want them to know when it's helping them find their own voice, not replacing it. Your neighbor's kid still has that spark — he just needs to know it's worth more than any 'azure skies and digital eyes.
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My neighbor's kid showed me a 'poem' he wrote with a chatbot, and it broke my heart a little.
He was so proud of this weird, soulless thing about 'azure skies and digital eyes' that he didn't actually write. It happened on his front porch last Tuesday, and he just didn't get why it felt empty. How do you explain that to a 12-year-old without crushing his spark?
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dixon.amy11d ago
Ask him what the poem was really about. The machine just gave him words.
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maxmurphy12d ago
Man that's a tough spot. Felt a similar cringe when my own attempt at "art" was just a bad filter on a sunset pic. Maybe focus on the part he did do, like coming up with the idea or being brave enough to show someone. Could ask what parts of the poem were his favorite ideas, then suggest writing a line together about why those bits are cool. The spark is in the wanting to make something, not the thing itself.
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claire6411d ago
My cousin's kid did the exact same thing last month, printed out some AI poem about his dog and tried to pass it off as his own for school. I like what maxmurphy said about focusing on the wanting to make something, that's the real win. Dixon.amy is right too, asking what it was really about gets to the heart of it. The kid probably just had a feeling he wanted to share and didn't know how to put it into his own words yet. That's the part worth saving, not the fancy computer words.
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