Resource Roundup
Some things I have found helpful lately: on curriculum, deepfakes, and AI companions
Every 6ish weeks, I share a collection of links to things I have found helpful lately in the realm of things relevant to women in youth ministry. Here’s the haul for this installment:
Youth Pastor Theologian’s Curriculum — Youth leaders are often on the hunt for curriculum to use in their ministry. Add this to your list of sources for solid, theologically rich curriculum that’s still accessible to teens: Youth Pastor Theologian is now publishing curriculum that focuses on Christian doctrine, spirituality, and living. The first installment — on the Apostles’ Creed - is out now.
Kids are making deepfakes of each other, and laws aren’t keeping up — I remember school officials once telling me a horror story of a student at a school sporting event who, in search of revenge, Airdropped a nude from an ex to everyone in the vicinity who also had Airdrop enabled. What’s scarier now is that even teens who have never shared a nude photo of themselves can be the target of “revenge porn” through AI deepfakes. This article goes into the legal limitations in addressing this issue.
A Staggering Proportion of Teens Say Talking to AI Is Better Than Real-Life Friends — I’m coming across a lot of articles about concerns for young users of AI companions. New research shows over half of teens are regular users, but “even more startling were the 31 percent of surveyed teens who said their interactions with AI companions were either as satisfying or more satisfying than conversations with real-life friends — a finding that shows how profoundly AI is already changing the formative and tumultuous years of adolescence.” Moreover, parents have their work cut out for them here. As one quote in the article tells us, “There's not a perfect plan for parents because they're up against giant corporations who are very invested in getting their kids on these products.”
Teens and AI Companions — What You Need To Know — Here’s a synopsis and commentary from another study. Its conclusion: no one under 18 should use AI companions. In the past few years, there’s been a lot of movement around protecting teens from the harms of social media and making schools into phone-free spaces, and I’m wondering if teen usage of AI (particularly AI “friends” and therapists) will be a new frontier for advocacy and legislation.