Archive · 25 Aug 2026
Why Children Need Time to Waste in AI’s Age
Many parents try to plan every part of their children’s lives.
They want children to eat well, study hard, play instruments and sports, and avoid too much screen time.
Parents may do this because they worry other children will get ahead.
But nobody knows exactly what the future will look like.
Artificial intelligence may change which skills are important.
This means some achievements that seem valuable today may not matter as much later.
Children also need time to rest, play and sometimes do nothing special.
The article says parents should focus less on making children perfect and more on helping them adapt to change.
It is okay for families to do their reasonable best without controlling every moment.
Modern parenting increasingly schedules, monitors and optimizes children’s activities and achievements.
Parents often feel pressure that other children are doing more and getting ahead.
The future is increasingly uncertain because artificial intelligence may change which skills and careers are valuable.
The article argues that rest, ordinary play and occasional screen time should not automatically be treated as failures.
Rather than promising predictable rewards, adults should help children become adaptable in an unknowable future.
- Who
- Parents, children and society are the focus of the article.
- What
- The article argues against excessive parenting optimization and for allowing children more rest, play and unstructured time.
- When
- The discussion concerns modern parenting in the age of artificial intelligence.
- Where
- The article addresses social and family life broadly; no specific location is given.
- Why
- Parents are pursuing increasingly demanding achievement standards despite uncertainty about which skills the future will value.
Relaxed, adaptive parenting
Achievement-focused parenting
How children should spend their time
Relaxed, adaptive parenting
Children should sometimes rest, play freely, watch television or simply do nothing without those activities being treated as wasted time.
Achievement-focused parenting
Children’s time should be scheduled and enriched through study, activities, sports and other pursuits to help them progress.
Response to competition
Relaxed, adaptive parenting
Parents should resist fear of missing out and stop treating other children’s achievements as a standard every child must match.
Achievement-focused parenting
Parents may feel compelled to push children because other children appear to be doing more and getting ahead.
Preparing for the future
Relaxed, adaptive parenting
Because artificial intelligence makes the future unpredictable, adaptability is more useful than pursuing a fixed list of achievements.
Achievement-focused parenting
The current approach continues to emphasize familiar forms of academic and extracurricular achievement, even though their future value is uncertain.
- Central concern
- Modern parenting treats children’s time and activities as things that must constantly be optimized.
- Parental pressure
- Fear of other children getting ahead contributes to scheduling, supervision and enrichment.
- Future uncertainty
- Artificial intelligence makes it difficult to predict which achievements, skills and professions will remain valuable.
- Suggested change
- Parents should permit children to rest, play and sometimes spend time unproductively.
- Recommended preparation
- Children should be prepared to adapt to circumstances that cannot yet be envisioned.
- Article author
- Sibal, author of Equations (2021).