UNESCO

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1. 01

   The house rule for AI has three lines: under thirteen only alongside an adult, from thirteen only after their own thinking and with verification, and for homework they declare what they used — because a blanket ban only produces hidden use.

   Guidance for Generative AI in Education and Research · 2023

   The tool is not a source, it is an editor that can be convincingly wrong.

   The UNESCO guidance asks two things of schools and both transpose to the home: a minimum age for independent use and a duty of human verification. What goes on the fridge. Line one, under thirteen: the tool is used only alongside an adult, screen in view, and never for homework. At that age the very capacity the tool replaces is being built, so the shortcut costs more than it brings. Line two, from thirteen: they may use it alone under three conditions — first they write what they think, then they ask; any figure or quotation is checked against an independent source; nothing personal about them or anyone else goes into the tool. Line three, for homework: they declare what they used and for what, exactly like a bibliography. Homework handed in as theirs but written by a model is not a technology problem, it is an honesty one, and is treated as such. Three clarifications both of you should hold: the tool is not a source, it is an editor that can be convincingly wrong; it is built to please, so it will agree with them more often than it should, and that is dangerous exactly when they need contradiction; and it is built by someone, with interests, on data with holes. And for you as a parent, the rule that carries the rest: use it in front of them, out loud, showing where you checked and where it was wrong. A child learns their relationship with a tool by watching yours.

   “We recommend a minimum age for independent use of generative tools in education and require every use to be accompanied by human verification — a tool that produces text is not a source.”

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