Digital tools give Shaanxi mom 'moment to breathe'

Zuo Jingwen, 30, from Xi'an, Shaanxi province

For me, the real benefit of artificial intelligence is that it saves me time and energy and gives me a moment to breathe. But for my 2-year-old son, AI is basically just a storytelling machine or something that plays music. He doesn't really use the intelligent part of it. At least I haven't found a way yet.

I've used AI with him maybe three major times. The first was with an AI app on my phone. My son is a high-energy boy. I was so worn out that I felt I couldn't respond to him with any patience anymore. I could feel I was about to snap at him, but I didn't want to get angry. So I thought, "Is there anything that can just reply to him a few times, make any sound at all?" Then I remembered AI has a voice-call feature. I let my child talk to it directly. He's still little and can't say much, so he just held the phone. He'd ask, 'What's a fan?' or 'What are fireworks?' — just really simple questions.

It only lasted a few minutes, but during those few minutes I didn't have to do anything. I could just watch him. Those few minutes saved me, because sometimes when you're completely drained from taking care of a child, you just need a moment to breathe.

The second time, I bought him an AI toy — a bubble machine. It's shaped like a soft bubble, and inside it's powered by large models. What's special is that it has a parent app. You can choose a character for the bubble toy. Depending on the character you pick, the voice talking to your child will be different — different age, different way of speaking, different verbal tics. The app also asks if you have any reminders. I entered that I wanted it to encourage him to be strong — to tell him some of the things I hope he'll learn. But so far, I haven't found it particularly effective. Even though I set it up that way, I haven't seen any obvious guidance work. When my child uses the bubble, it's mostly things like, before bed, "Can you play a song for me?" or "Tell me a story."

Now, whether it's the AI app on my phone or the little AI bubble toy, he uses them very rarely. It's very occasional. The moments I bring AI in are still when I'm at home and just too exhausted and don't want to put him in front of cartoons. I might pull out one of these tools to distract him for a bit. So I am the one who benefits, much more than my child. There's absolutely no dependency or emotional attachment — he never reaches for it on his own. I feel like we haven't reached that stage. Maybe it's something that comes with older children.

Sometimes I use AI because he won't listen to family. If I tell him something and he ignores me, or his grandparents tell him and he ignores them, but if AI says it, he might actually pay attention. For example, he'll be eating and suddenly put his bowl aside and want to run off to play. I ask AI, "Can a child do that?" AI of course says no. He doesn't react immediately, but after a while he might quietly go back on his own. It's possible. He just needs a third party to say it.

That's my experience so far. AI gives me a moment to breathe, but for my little one, it's still just a toy that talks back sometimes.

Zuo Jingwen spoke with Li Hongyang.