May 16, 2026
Expert Opinion
Karn Malhotra, Founder of Humanly Brands and Poai
Image source: facebook.com
How can AI help children?
AI can help children create content and become future-ready. As many jobs are expected to depend on AI by 2030, developing a proactive approach is important. Learning to prompt a large language model (LLM) helps children break down tasks, spot patterns and improve solutions.
Additionally, AI can help children identify career options. For example, using AI art tools can spark an interest in design careers earlier in life. AI can also tailor learning to suit children’s abilities.
How does AI help beyond technology?
Children have mainly been taught logical thinking, which uses deductive reasoning and critical thinking. AI introduces them to computational thinking, which involves breaking tasks into smaller steps, spotting patterns and creating systems earlier.
For example, when cleaning a messy room, logical thinking means grouping toys by type, while computational thinking means creating a checklist, tackling one corner at a time and deciding which areas matter most.
How important is AI in education?
Learning to collaborate with AI safely across all grades is important. Without it, children risk missing out on essential skills needed to use AI tools effectively. Early collaboration with AI helps children build useful skills, avoid falling behind peers and understand ethics to guard against misinformation.
However, using AI only for quick answers may weaken critical thinking. When applied thoughtfully, AI can guide learning through questions that encourage reflection, reasoning and metacognition at an earlier age.
Karn Malhotra is the founder of Humanly Brands, helping AI founders and leaders build powerful personal brands. He works to make AI more inclusive and accessible through community initiatives. He believes AI, guided responsibly, can improve lives and create meaningful social impact. He can be reached at [email protected]
A Teacher’s Viewpoint
Anjali Negi, Vice Principal, Indus Altum International School, Belagavi, Karnataka
AI has made work easier, reshaping how we create and learn. However, overdependence on it can affect one’s ability to think deeply. One must also remember that skills such as courage, creativity and compassion, regarded as ‘soft skills’, are strengths that give humans an edge over machines. In an AI-driven world, rather than preparing students for job titles and economic roles, schools should identify which cognitive tasks can be entrusted to AI, allowing greater focus on skills that help students discover themselves, develop unique capabilities and build a strong sense of identity. AI should serve as a companion that amplifies human intelligence. The future of education depends on using AI wisely while nurturing what makes us human.
KidsSpeak
We spoke to a few students who attended a Poai workshop to understand their thoughts on AI.
Siddhant Singh
Class 7, The Ardee School, Goa
The workshop taught me the importance of using more than one platform for a task. Each AI tool has its strengths. For example, Claude is great for brainstorming, while Google AI Studio is useful for creating images, and combining them produces the best results. I now use AI to enhance my YouTube channel, where I post football content such as match reviews. Instead of letting AI do all the work, I use it alongside my own ideas and explore multiple AI platforms to create thumbnails and edit videos efficiently. I believe sports can benefit hugely from AI. With its ability to process statistics quickly and accurately, AI can help coaches, analysts and players make smarter decisions, complementing human effort rather than replacing it.
Aarav Sinha
Class 5, Coulson Tough Elementary, USA
Through the workshop, I learnt to prompt for a specific AI tool. We used Claude and Bolt AI to create a game similar to Tetris, setting features and rules to increase difficulty levels. I use AI in various areas. I use Phenomenal AI to make fun videos and Claude to solve maths problems. I love Roblox and enjoy creating simulated environments on the platform. I love gaming and, in my opinion, AI can make the field even better by analysing many games to create unique experiences.
Professional Point of View
Anush Fernandes
marketing professional exploring AI for marketing workflows
AI represents the biggest leap in education in a generation. It has never been easier to learn something new, taught to you by a personal tutor who can, as Pratham–one of India’s most successful educational institutions–puts it, teach you at the right level (TaRL). Apart from creating text through tools like ChatGPT or Claude, AI can also create music, art and games. Learning AI, therefore, may be as much of a misnomer as ‘learning the internet’ and those who move past this self-created limit will gain the most.
Shubham Goyal
technologist building AI tools for small-and medium-sized businesses workflows
Just as professionals must understand AI, children should start exploring it too, based on their interests. For example, if they want to make YouTube videos, knowing the right AI tools helps. By understanding AI tools, they also learn their limitations, and they might be able to unlock their full potential.
