Engineers and Artists: The Mindset Our Kids Need in a World of AI

As I helped my daughter Willow prepare for back to school this year, I was also starting to experiment with OpenAI’s new o1 model. Seeing the profound and rapid developments in artificial intelligence, I know I’m not the only parent wondering, what should we be teaching our kids right now? What skills will still be relevant when they grow up? 

I’ve come to believe that the most enduring thing we can do is help our kids develop the mindsets of engineers and artists. It might sound counterintuitive when AI tools have shown remarkable capability at coding and making images, but when we focus on mindset over skills, I believe this is the combination that will bring the most magic into the world.  

Mastering AI Tools // Mindset of an Engineer

Those who embrace AI and become experts at leveraging it are going to gain a massive edge; in fact, excelling at prompting already differentiates people who get the most out of GenAI and those who don’t. While AI will make coding vastly easier in the future, leveraging AI tools will still require the kind of critical thinking that allows you to go from an idea in your head to something real. 

One of the best ways to promote the type of structured, critical thinking that makes someone effective in using AI tools is coding. Ultimately, coding is about breaking down complex problems into smaller tasks and articulating the outcomes you want to achieve in a clear and logical way. In the future, instead of entering lines of code into a black terminal, you might talk to an AI agent and prompt them to take certain actions. But even if the mechanics are different, the skillset is fundamentally the same. 

I also believe that most jobs will be reinvented around or enhanced by AI tools and all of us will rely on these agents in our personal lives, too. That makes it important for everyone, not just software engineers, to be able to define their goals, evaluate outputs, and apply creative solutions to make AI do something unique or useful. 

I’ve been fascinated watching my 9-year-old hone these skills through her interactions with ChatGPT. For instance, when Willow first asked for help creating a story about a unicorn, ChatGPT provided a short, generic tale that didn’t match her vision. She realized she needed to be more specific, so she began to break down her grand idea into detailed components: defining the unicorn’s attributes, the enchanted land it hails from, and the journey it undertakes with a girl named Fiona. Then, she worked with ChatGPT to define chapters and ultimately design the book cover. 

Because of the two-way feedback with the AI, she was able to get better at prompting so much faster. Like with coding, errors and unexpected outcomes become learning opportunities, encouraging a growth mindset where challenges become steps toward progress. Not only does this teach children how to guide AI tools rather than passively consume their outputs, it also instills in them an ability to explore new paths with curiosity, a sense of control over their ideas and projects, and resilience when they need to adjust to get the outcome they desire. 

Sparking Lifelong Creativity // Mindset of an Artist

I believe that one of the greatest gifts we can give our kids is to allow them to express their right to create in all possible ways. GenAI tools are one more way we can help foster a lifetime of creativity and wonder.

For the past few years our family has had a dinnertime tradition of dreaming up new products we’d like to see in the world — whether it’s a skin patch that regulates body temperature or a microwave for the car (warm steak while driving, anyone?). After dinner, Willow would draw a picture of the idea and add it to our Book of Inventions, but she’d often get frustrated when she couldn’t accurately represent her vision through paper and crayons. 

Now with tools like Dall-E, she can turn an idea in her head into reality so much faster and at much higher fidelity. Instead of her inspiration hitting a wall, she ends up refining her ideas further because of the rapid feedback loop. For example, one noisy evening, she wanted to design a new type of muzzle that would absorb the sound of a dog’s bark. When the initial AI rendering showed a contraption covering the entire dog’s face, Willow realized she wanted to prioritize the dog’s comfort and come up with a design that wouldn’t stop the dog from barking, but would simply capture and neutralize the sound. Once she got it right, she asked me where she could get it manufactured, as if it was the easiest thing in the world — all because these tools are convincing our kids that creating is easy and not limited by skillset. 

Seeing this gives me so much hope that the next generation will be even more entrepreneurial because these tools can help them get from an idea to an actual product or business incredibly quickly. When we remove the barriers that limit people’s ability to realize their dreams, we unleash even more creativity in the world. That’s why I believe the future will require more, not less, creativity than today.

With that in mind, we need to support our kids in their creative practice, so it continues into their adulthood. I think of the Picasso quote: "Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up." The solution is to not let our sense of wonder fade. 

We do that by giving children our endless love, support and fascination so they continue to believe anything is possible and always create from a place of joy. We can also show them how a whole world of magical tools exists to help them take the dreams in their heads and bring them to life at a much faster pace than was ever possible. We can reinforce that everyone is born a creator and they can remain creators as they grow.