Resources for Parents - AI and Algorithms

Building Digital Balance: A Family Guide to Google's Safety and Well-Being Tools

When it comes to digital wellbeing, one of the most important things is to establish an ongoing conversation with your children about their online lives. There is no one size fits all; every family can develop strategies that work best for them. But having access to a wide range of tools can help you adapt those strategies at every stage of your kids’ journey. Here are some of the key principles for those conversations:

The AI industry

The AI industry encompasses both major technology companies that integrate algorithms into existing products and firms focused primarily on developing and deploying specialized AI services, primarily Large Language Models (LLMs) and generative tools.

Understanding AI: Online Content

Generative AI is a new and evolving technology. It has many productive uses like acting as a research aid for homework or an assistant when planning an event. But like most technology that came before, generative AI can also be used for harmful purposes; for instance, it can be used to create fake websites, voice recordings, videos, images, and social media posts that mislead, embarrass or hurt people. What used to require a lot of technical skill to create, can now be done easily: most people who make fake content use widely-available AI tools.

Recommendation algorithms

Recommendation is where the role of algorithms is most visible to the public.

Introducing AI

In this lesson, students learn that AI tools are computer programs that follow patterns instead of thinking like humans. They explore how this can lead AIs to make mistakes and importance of having humans supervise and correct them. Students practice creating “robot rules” and then design a "Trashbot" that will recognize and pick up trash in the classroom.