This As They Told It essay is based on a conversation with Michele Ragon, a 46-year-old LinkedIn employee communications business partner based in the Bay Area. The following has been edited for length and clarity.

My 11-year-old son just finished fifth grade and was diagnosed with ADHD, dyslexia, and dysgraphia earlier this year. You have trouble remembering the order of things and organizing your thoughts.

I bought him a new computer for Christmas, which he can use to access Copilot. The first time we used AI together was to help research a school essay about hurricanes.

We were both working with Copilot open to the side of his rehearsal notes. Being able to go back and forth with the AI ​​and ask it questions was eye-opening for him. He was able to get a lot more context from the research he was doing.

Then a few weeks later one night I walked up behind him as he worked on his computer. Until I started asking questions, I had no idea that I was building my own AI video game.

I think for him, the simplicity of using AI is what he loves. You don’t have to be a coder to be creative this way. This is a perfect example of how AI does not take away from humanity or creativity.

It took my son less than 8 hours total to create a video game with Copilot

There is a gaming platform called Steam where my son sometimes browses to play free game demos. You don’t have a paid account on the site, but browse the games on it.

In school, he had read a book called “Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH” and something in that book caught his attention. It reminded him of a civilization-building game he’d seen on Steam that he thought was really cool.

He told me that he started asking Copilot questions like, “Help me make this game. This is my idea. How could I make this game?” The model then began to guide him through the steps.

When I asked him how long it took to build it, he said it was four days working with Copilot for an hour or two a day until he had a workable version.

He said the AI ​​never gets angry with him.

One of the best parts of working with AI, he said, is that the AI ​​never gets frustrated when you ask a question again; simply repeat the answer in a different way.

His favorite message is to ask, “What does this mean?” If you receive an error code that you don’t understand, it will copy it back into Copilot and it will guide you through it. If it’s still too technical, it will re-ask the question and simplify the answer even further. He also uses voice mode to talk to the model when he finds it difficult to type what he wants to ask.

He said the hardest part is that he can get stuck with the same error and neither he nor the AI ​​can fix it or diagnose the problem. You don’t have the maturity yet to understand that when that happens, you have to do something different, or prompt him differently, or you’ll keep getting the same results.

When something doesn’t work, if he can, he will move on or try to fix it. For example, he changed the rats to smiley faces because the game kept crashing.

I have concerns about their use of AI, but the creative benefits are enormous.

I think it was a low risk environment in the specific game I was building. I wasn’t worried about inappropriate content or responses appearing. Still, I wonder if it has the ability to detect if something is incorrect or if the AI ​​has given it information that is not correct.

I also think about the games you see online on this gaming platform where anyone can publish.

We like to let our kids explore on their own and then show us what they’re learning, but as a parent, have I put proper parental controls on what my child sees and can build online?

However, creating a game was entirely my son’s idea, executed with the help of AI, and he had no other way to do it because he doesn’t know how to code. I think for him, using AI almost amplified his creativity because there’s a positive reward in making something he can use and play with.

I think schools should teach children how to use AI appropriately

I think schools that don’t teach students how to use AI are doing themselves a disservice. I work for a tech company, but I have conversations with friends who don’t work in tech and who also use AI in many ways.

A friend who was looking for a job told me that Claude helped her practice for interviews and that she used him daily in her job search. Even when you search for something on Google, you get an AI-generated answer immediately.

AI is coming very fast and furious, and I think it’s a disservice that we’re not teaching kids how to use it properly.

I asked my son if there was anything else he wanted to build or anything he was excited about with AI. His face lit up as he talked about the next game idea he has. As a parent, it’s amazing to see your child receive that positive reinforcement.

Do you have a story to share about AI and parenting? If so, please contact the journalist at aapplegate@businessinsider.com.