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I’m coming at this episode as much as a parent as I am a psychologist or the co-founder of an AI company. After my own son got flagged by a teacher for potentially using AI on a writing assignment, I had a pretty humbling realization: I hadn’t actually taught him what responsible AI use looks like. Most of our kids (about 70% of teens) are already using these tools, but they’re doing it in a vacuum without much guidance from schools or home. In this conversation, I wanted to move past the “cheating” panic and look at the real developmental stakes. We’re talking about how passive AI use might be replacing the “cognitive heavy lifting” kids need to build critical thinking and how we, as clinicians and parents, can start having the “AI Talk” early and often to turn these tools into structured thought partners rather than just answer generators.

Main Topics

00:01: The “Cop’s Kid” moment: How my son’s school assignment became a wake-up call about teaching responsible AI use.
03:05: Current statistics on teenage AI adoption and why school policies are struggling to keep pace with the technology.
05:40: Why the real concern isn’t just academic integrity, but the potential “atrophy” of critical thinking and analytical skills.
08:30: Comparing the “AI Talk” to the “Sex Talk”—why it needs to start early (age 8-10) and evolve over time.
11:20: Privacy red flags and why we need to monitor for “secrecy” or “humanizing” AI in our kids’ digital habits.
13:10: A framework for healthy AI use: Outsourcing the rote tasks while keeping the “human brain in the loop.”
14:50: Prompt Engineering as a metacognitive skill: Teaching kids to give context and identify where they are stuck.
18:20: Tailoring AI for neurodivergent kids: Specific strategies and prompts for ADHD, Dyslexia, and Autism.
24:30: Using the “Socratic Method” with AI to help teenagers navigate social conflict and perspective-taking.

Cool Things Mentioned

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Crafted Practice: the only in-person business retreat for testing psychologists
Reverb: the premier AI-powered report-writing platform for testing psychologists
Simple prompt framework for kids document

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About Dr. Jeremy Sharp

I’m a licensed psychologist and Clinical Director at the Colorado Center for Assessment & Counseling, a private practice that I founded in 2009 and have grown to over 20 clinicians. I earned my undergraduate degree in Experimental Psychology from the University of South Carolina before getting my Master’s and PhD in Counseling Psychology from Colorado State University. These days, I specialize in psychological and neuropsychological evaluation with kids and adolescents.

As the host of the Testing Psychologist Podcast, I provide private practice consulting for psychologists and other mental health professionals who want to start or grow psychological testing services in their practices. I live in Fort Collins, Colorado with my wife (also a therapist) and two young kids.

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567. How to Talk to Kids About AI