Is AI bad for kids' creativity? It depends who's doing the making

AI isn't automatically bad for kids' creativity, but how they use it matters a lot. New research points one way: AI that hands over finished answers can weaken skills, while AI that gives hints and feedback can build them. For a kid who makes things, the rule is simple: your kid keeps the craft (the idea, the drawing, the story, the choices), and AI can take the chores. In Kubrio's Animation Studio, that's the order every film follows: your kid draws the star on paper and tells the story, and the studio shoots the scenes.

What does the new research say?

The research says it depends on how AI is used. On October 13, Science News Explores asked "Is AI making us dumber?" and rounded up the studies for students. Several are worth knowing:

• High school math. In a 2025 study in PNAS by Bastani and colleagues, students who practiced with a ChatGPT-like tool did better while they had it, but worse than students who never used it once it was taken away. A version that gave hints instead of answers helped students learn about as well as studying with books.
• Doctors. In a 2025 study in The Lancet Gastroenterology & Hepatology, doctors who had three months of AI help spotting polyps later found them less well on their own. As one researcher put it, they seemed to have "kind of forgot what to look for."
• SAT practice. In a preprint for a 2026 conference, students who lost access to AI had more trouble with practice SAT questions and were more likely to skip them. The authors called that "particularly concerning," because sticking with a hard problem is how people learn.
• Editing. In a February 2026 preprint (not yet peer reviewed), people who practiced editing cover letters with AI feedback did as well on their own later as people who practiced with human feedback.

Several of these are preprints, and most of the participants were teens or adults, not 8-year-olds. Treat them as a signal, not a law. But the signal is consistent: when AI does the thinking, people lose the skill. When AI helps the person think, they keep it.

What's the "craft" a kid should never hand over?

The craft is every part of a project that grows with practice and makes it theirs. Benjamin Lira Luttges, a behavioral scientist at the University of Pennsylvania quoted in the article, has a blunter version of the rule. For a family audience: outsource the chores, not the craft.

For a kid making a comic, a game, or a film, the craft is:

• The idea. What's the story? Who's the hero? What's the problem?
• The drawing. What the characters look like, in your kid's own hand.
• The choices. What happens first, what the villain wants, and which ending is funnier.
• The fixing. Noticing what's not working and deciding what to change.

Those are the skills that grow with practice, and they're the ones that make a project theirs.

What can AI help kids with, then?

AI can help with the chores: the repetitive, technical, or slow parts that stand between a kid's idea and a finished thing. Making a drawing move frame by frame. Turning a sketch of a level into a playable room. Setting up the technical bits a 7-year-old can't do yet.

When AI handles those, a kid can finish projects that used to need a whole studio of grown-ups. That's the big promise for young makers. The test is whether the kid is still making the decisions.

Why does struggling matter so much?

Struggling matters because that's where the learning happens. The SAT study found that people who lost access to AI were more likely to skip hard questions. A kid who gets an instant answer every time never practices staying with a problem.

So when your kid is frowning at a comic panel that looks wrong or a game level that's too hard, that frustration isn't a sign something's broken. It's a sign they're learning. The science of learning by doing goes deeper: learning by making often feels harder, even when it's working better.

The best AI tools for kids act like a good teacher. They ask a question, give a hint, or show an example. They don't take the pencil.

How can parents tell if AI is helping or replacing?

Use one test: who made the decisions?

After your kid makes something with an AI tool, ask them to explain it:

• "Why did you choose that character?"
• "What did you change after the first try?"
• "What part are you proudest of?"

If they can answer with their own reasons, they were in charge. If the answer is "the AI did it," that part was handed over. That's not a disaster, only a hint to try the next one differently: draw first, then ask the AI for help. Learning to give an AI clear instructions is a skill too, and the free prompt engineering for kids guide covers it.

Where does Kubrio fit?

Kubrio is a set of studios where kids 6–13 make real things, and I built it on this exact split. Every project starts with your kid's own drawing on paper. In Animation Studio, Tek, the studio's AI producer, turns your kid's story into a storyboard, and your kid fixes any panel. In Game Studio, your kid builds every level, and the AI turns their drawings into game characters. The rule is called the hand stays the hero: the AI does the chores, and your kid does the craft. For the coding side of this question, read why kids should still learn to code when AI can write code.

What to do at home this week

1. Before your kid uses any AI tool for a project, have them draw the idea on paper first.
2. Make a two-column list together: "parts I want to do myself" and "parts I'd like help with."
3. When they're stuck, offer a hint or a question, not the answer. Ask any AI tool they use to do the same.
4. After they finish, use the "who made the decisions?" test.
5. Ask them to show the project to someone and explain one choice they made.

FAQ

Is AI bad for kids? Not by itself. Research suggests AI that gives finished answers can weaken skills, while AI that gives hints and feedback can support learning. What matters most is whether the kid is still doing the thinking.

Should kids use AI for art? Kids can use AI to help with the technical parts of a project, like animating a drawing. The ideas, the drawing, and the choices should stay theirs. Starting on paper is the simplest way to make sure they do.

Does AI kill creativity? It can when it replaces a kid's ideas with its own. It can also help kids finish bigger projects than they could alone. The difference is who's making the creative decisions.

What age can kids start using AI tools? It depends on the tool and on supervision. For kids 6–13, look for tools made for kids, with no open internet or ads, where parents can see everything the kid makes.

How do I know if an AI tool is good for my kid? Check whether it asks your kid questions and gives hints, or hands over finished work. Then use the "who made the decisions?" test on what they make.