Choose one family AI rule before Monday

Before Monday gets busy, choose one family AI rule.

Not a policy document. Not a lecture in the doorway. One sentence you can stick near the computer or the charging pile, where thumbs actually go.

Ask everyone at the table, including the adults:

“What is one decision AI should never make for us?”

Let each person answer. Then write one simple rule for the week ahead.

Why one rule beats a speech

Families already have more tech rules than anyone can remember. When a new tool arrives, the temptation is a long list: no this, never that, only after homework, not in bedrooms, not with photos, not with friends’ names… The list is correct and nobody can say it back.

The American Academy of Pediatrics treats media rules like other household rules: write them down, talk them through, and look at them again as children grow. Their Family Media Plan works better when children help set the terms. AI belongs on that same scrap of paper — as one line, not a new constitution.

A single rule does a small, useful job. It reminds children and adults that AI is a tool, not the person in charge.

How the conversation actually goes

Keep it to ten minutes. Phones in the middle of the table if you must.

Go around once. Younger children may say “it shouldn’t decide bedtime” or “it shouldn’t choose my friends.” Older ones may say “it shouldn’t send a message as me” or “it shouldn’t do the whole assignment.” Adults should answer too. “It should not decide how we spend Sunday” is a fair adult rule.

Then pick one for this week. You can collect the others for later. Examples that fit on a sticky note:

• AI can suggest. People decide.
• AI can help us create. We still make the thing.
• No names, addresses or photos in a chat without asking first.
• We do not let AI send a message in our name.
• If a feeling is heavy, we tell a person, not only a bot.

Write it in the child’s words if you can. Their sentence is the one they will remember.

Put it where the work happens

A rule in a notes app is a rule nobody sees. Tape it by the family computer, the charger, or the kettle — wherever the next argument will start.

No app required. No password. No “we’ll set up parental controls after dinner” that becomes next month.

On Friday, ask one question: “Did our rule help?” If it was too vague, sharpen it. If it was too strict, ease one corner. The AAP’s idea of revisiting a plan is the whole point. A rule that never changes will be ignored. A rule you rewrite together stays alive.

Monday will get busy. The scrap of paper can still be there when the bag is unpacked and someone says, “AI said we should…”

If someone cannot think of a rule, offer a starter and let them rewrite it. “AI can suggest. People make the final decisions.” is enough for a first week. A younger child can draw the rule instead of spelling it. An older one can add a second line about schoolwork: AI may help me plan. I still write the thing I hand in.

The point is not a perfect sentence. The point is that everyone heard themselves say out loud that a tool is not in charge.

What would your family’s rule be this week?