Happy Sunday! Here’s what we’ve been working on.
Over the past 18 months, I’ve tested 100+ AI tools with my kids (ages 3, 6 and 8). Every project documented. Every failure recorded. Every cost tracked.
500+ hours of testing.
The question everyone keeps asking: “How do I actually prepare my kids for the AI age?”
This week I published the answer. Not theory. Not speculation. Just three principles backed by real projects and honest failures.
📝 New Blog Post: What 500 Hours of AI Testing Actually Taught Me
The research says 92% of parents believe AI knowledge is essential. But nobody’s showing you what actually works on a Tuesday afternoon with an 8-year-old.
So I documented it all.
What the blog post includes:
- Three principles that actually work:
- Tinkering with AI as a learning partner (not a replacement for thinking)
- Using AI to build emotional intelligence (not replace human connection)
- Modeling adaptability through your own testing (you’re teaching by doing)
- Deep dives on real projects:
- Custom stories for first-day-of-school anxiety (worked better than my lecture)
- NotebookLM Irish Famine podcast (5/5 quiz, asked for more history lessons) [from last week]
- FC26 player card with self-assessed stats (45 minutes, priceless reaction)
- What’s NOT working:
- Audience building for kids (YouTube videos nobody watches)
- Free tools staying free (Kling AI: $0 → $79/month)
- Infinite attention spans (8 minutes max for age 8)
- Start this weekend:
- 3 beginner projects with free tools
- Step-by-step guides
- All 20 documented family projects mapped to principles
This isn’t about teaching them to code. It’s about building three specific, testable behaviors you can start this weekend.
👉 Read:Preparing Children for the AI Age: What 500 Hours of Testing Taught Me
⚽ Family Project From This Week: FC26 Player Card Project
My 8-year-old is obsessed with FC26. This afternoon I asked: “What would YOUR player card look like?”
He rated himself seriously:
- Pace: 92 (“I’m fast at school”)
- Shooting: 89
- Passing: 99 (kid’s confident)
- Dribbling: 86
- Defending: 95
- Physical: 80
Forty-five minutes later, we had a pulsing, animated FC26 player card of him in an Arsenal jersey. Golden card floating beside him, cinematic stadium lighting, animated like a rare Ultimate Team pack reveal.
He watched it loop five times. Then: “Can I show this to my friends?”
Why this matters:
The stats self-assessment? That’s identity work, not just data. Watching me fail 4 times before getting it right? That’s modeling adaptability. Seeing how prompt iteration works? That’s AI literacy.
This project hits all three principles from the blog post.
Full tutorial now live:
- Exact Nano Banana prompts I used
- Kling AI animation technique
- What failed (Argentina jersey, rotation disasters)
- Stats session template
- Pro tips (neutral clothing photo, budget 5+ generations)
👉 Read:Turn Your Football-Mad Kid Into Their Own FC26 Player Card
(P.S. there is an issue with the webpage layout that I am currently debugging - should be fixed soon)
What’s Coming:
More family projects. More honest tool reviews. And hopefully fixing that weird sidebar bug on the FC26 project page (probably caused by the AI coding assistant, ironically).
Quick Links:
📚 All Family Projects
🔧 50+ AI Tools We’ve Tested
📖 Parent’s Research Lab
Social:
Instagram @aidadlab
TikTok @aidadlab
Thanks for following along on these experiments.
Niall
AI Dad Lab
