Explore how thoughtful, voice-driven conversations can help children develop critical thinking, articulate ideas, and nurture curiosity—skills essential for navigating a world shaped by artificial intelligence.
August 2025
As a mum, you’re probably used to the constant changes in technology and the way your kids learn. But what about the rise of AI tools like ChatGPT? While they offer instant answers and convenience, a new study from MIT suggests they might be doing more harm than good to our children's developing brains.
Researchers at MIT’s Media Lab recently conducted a study that looked at the brain activity of young adults using ChatGPT to write essays. The findings were concerning: the group using ChatGPT showed the lowest brain engagement and consistently "underperformed at neural, linguistic, and behavioral levels." In fact, their brain activity in areas associated with creativity and memory was significantly lower compared to those who wrote essays on their own.
The study's author, Nataliya Kosmyna, expressed serious concern about these findings, especially for younger users. She worries that a reliance on these tools could sacrifice long-term brain development for short-term convenience. The more a student uses AI to do their work, the more their brain gets used to a "copy-and-paste" approach, rather than the hard work of truly thinking, questioning, and creating.
This research highlights a crucial problem that many of us are seeing firsthand: there is a growing need for tools that help children learn how to think, not just what to think. This is exactly the challenge we're tackling with Socratic, a new voice-led AI learning tool for children aged 7-13. Rather than delivering instant answers, Socratic uses open-ended, thought-provoking questions to spark curiosity and challenge assumptions through daily 15-minute conversations. It's a screen-light way to build the critical thinking and reasoning skills that traditional AI tools are eroding.
Ready to help your child develop lifelong thinking habits? Join the waitlist for Socratic, launching in September 2025.
August 2025
Remember the satisfaction of figuring out a tough puzzle or writing an essay you were truly proud of? That feeling comes from using your brain to its full potential—a vital skill that today's digital tools might be making harder for our children to develop.
A recent MIT study on ChatGPT's impact on young brains showed that students who wrote essays using only their own minds were more engaged, more curious, and expressed higher satisfaction with their work. Their brains showed high neural connectivity in areas linked to creativity and semantic processing. In short, they were actively thinking and enjoying the process.
This is a stark contrast to the ChatGPT users, whose essays were described as "soulless" and whose brains showed low executive control. The study also found that the AI users had a harder time remembering their own essays, suggesting that the convenience of AI bypasses the deep memory processes that are essential for true learning.
Dr. Zishan Khan, a psychiatrist who works with children and adolescents, has also observed this trend, noting that over-reliance on large language models can have unintended cognitive consequences. He stresses that the neural connections that help with memory, accessing information, and resilience could weaken over time.
This is why we created Socratic. Unlike existing educational apps that focus on rote learning and quizzes, Socratic is a fully voice-led tool designed to help your child develop their own reasoning skills. By asking open-ended questions on themes like fairness and creativity, it encourages them to explore ideas and build confidence in speaking and reasoning aloud—all without a screen. It’s like Duolingo for critical thinking, building a "superpower" that will serve them for life.
Want to give your child the gift of critical thinking? Join our early access waitlist to be one of the first to try Socratic.
August 2025
The allure of ChatGPT is undeniable for busy kids and parents alike. But what if that convenience is coming at the cost of our children's long-term brain development? A new, un-peer-reviewed study from MIT is sounding the alarm, and it's a call to action for every mum.
The study’s findings are a powerful reminder that our children’s brains thrive on active engagement. The research showed that subjects who used Google Search for their essays—a tool that still requires them to sort through information and make decisions—also expressed high satisfaction and active brain function. This is a crucial distinction. While Google helps us find information, we still have to do the work of processing and synthesizing it. ChatGPT often does all the work for us, leaving our brains on the sidelines.
This is why we believe the right kind of AI can be a solution. Socratic is a new tool that harnesses AI to help children learn how to think, not just what to think. With daily 15-minute spoken conversations, it uses a unique, no-typing approach to encourage reasoning, articulation, and reflection. By focusing on dialogue and open-ended questions, Socratic helps build the crucial neural connections that other AI tools are undermining. It's designed to be the very tool that Kosmyna's study hints at—one that enhances learning rather than diminishing it.
Let’s empower our children to be the architects of their own thoughts and ideas. Socratic’s approach is screen-light and encourages meaningful engagement that can even spark dinner-table conversations.
Help your child build lifelong thinking habits. Socratic is launching in September 2025. Join the early access waitlist.