We’ve made childhood safer, more organized, and more supervised. But in removing so much uncertainty from children’s lives, we may also be removing some of the small experiences that teach independence, judgment, and confidence.

The real question about AI in schools isn’t whether students should use it. It’s which parts of thinking we still want them to do for themselves. As AI makes polished answers cheap and immediate, education may need to focus less on producing work—and more on building judgment.

We keep asking why people aren’t having children. But perhaps the more revealing question is what kind of society makes parenthood feel possible. Falling fertility may be less about people rejecting family life than about the growing gap between the families people want and the lives they feel able to build.