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Axios
21-07-2025
- Axios
How ChatGPT is joining family conversations
Busy parents have been prompting ChatGPT for help almost since its launch, but here's how some parents are using the voice feature to let the bot talk to even the youngest of children. Why it matters: Using generative AI in a supervised environment could introduce kids early to a technology that will most certainly be a facet of their future, but we don't know yet how it will affect their developing brains. Case in point: Preston Trebas, an academic strategist at Western Governors University in Utah, has two kids, ages 4 and 6. "Not a day goes by where I don't use AI in some way with them," he told Axios. His most common use is to help them create stories. "They'll tell me what they want [the story] to start with, or what they want it to end with, or they'll describe their characters, or sometimes I'll have the voice feature ask them questions about the story," Trebas said. Between the lines: Chulhee Kim, a recent graduate from Columbia's business school in NYC, says he let his 4-year-old daughter use the ChatGPT voice tool. "She found it fun immediately," Kim told Axios in an email. But she wasn't able to continue using the app because it wasn't built for kids. (OpenAI's terms of use say you must be 13 and over to use it.) Kim says his daughter needed time to think about what she was going to say during conversations and ChatGPT didn't wait for her, which "was a bit frustrating." Trebas said that when the bot interrupts, he uses the mute button to let his daughters talk. Zoom in: ChatGPT recognizes the voice of his daughters and answers a little differently when it speaks to them, Trebas said. They only use ChatGPT on his phone. He never lets them use it without supervision and he has age-appropriate talks with his kids about what ChatGPT is and what it isn't. "We have conversations constantly about how, even though it sounds like a real person, it's not." Trebas said he's glad they've spent so much time talking about the productive ways to use AI, "because they're not being shown any of this in school." "I know a lot of folks are against say it's going to kill creativity. And for me, it's just like anything else. It's a tool. And so it's been really cool to see how we've used it to amplify their imagination, never replacing it, using it as a family creativity tool." Kim also noted that when his daughter talked to ChatGPT, she came up with "more creative or silly questions" than what she normally asks, like "How can airplanes fly without the wheels?" or "How can milk change to a different color?" But ChatGPT would respond logically, which also frustrated his daughter. As a parent, Kim said he'd be interested in an LLM voice tool customized for children's conversation, to help them develop language.
Yahoo
19-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
I moved to the Bay Area with my wife to find a tech job. Two years later, we're both unemployed — this is just a broken system.
Phil Stafford moved to the Bay Area from Fresno, California, to work in cybersecurity. Stafford's wife lost her sales job as soon as the couple relocated. He says networking has helped him get contracts, but it's not enough; the system is broken. This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Phil Stafford, a 45-year-old cybersecurity professional based in Oakland, California. It's been edited for length and clarity. After I struggled for two years to find consistent tech work, my wife and I took a leap of faith and moved from Fresno, California, to the Bay Area — the tech hub of the country, located three hours northwest. However, a week after moving, my wife got laid off from her job, and we went into full survival mode. I had never been more frightened for my ability to exist than at that moment. We've spent the last six months scrambling to find work and having difficult conversations about our future. Here's how we're supporting each other during this time and staying afloat. For about a decade, I managed all technical needs for the janitorial business my wife and I owned. Then the company shut down. After that, I started doing contract cybersecurity consulting work while working toward my bachelor's degree in cybersecurity and information assurance. I earned my degree from Western Governors University in 2022, but my freelance opportunities started to dry up in Fresno. Since then, I've been able to find some contract roles, but the last two years have been spent unsuccessfully applying for full-time jobs. In the early days, I used Indeed and LinkedIn to apply for jobs a lot, but I landed maybe two or three interviews in all the time I was on there. I used to dedicate a lot of time to customizing each cover letter and résumé, and I'd catch myself getting my hopes up and fantasizing about what my life would be like with that job. I simply don't have the emotional bandwidth to do that anymore. Every rejection feels like a social wound. It's hard not to tie it back to my self-worth as a person. AI has been a great tool for helping me write my cover letters while giving me back physical and emotional time. Since utilizing AI, I've started getting more rejections, as opposed to radio silence. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing. The only real success I've found has been through networking and connecting on a human level. In Fresno, I found some contract jobs by directly reaching out to people via LinkedIn or email. People have been able to help me find opportunities or introduce me to someone else who can. But ultimately, I felt like my job opportunities were limited there. We left our month-to-month rental in Fresno and have been staying in Airbnbs in the East Bay Area ever since. We're currently working on locking down a more permanent arrangement with an Airbnb host. After my wife got laid off, not only did we now have no reliable income, but we had just uprooted ourselves from our entire support network at home. Moving was a leap of faith, and since then, we've been scrambling to make ends meet. I've found a lot more work since moving, plus networking is so much easier, so I feel like it was absolutely the right choice to move. That being said, we're still not making nearly enough as we'd like, but we've decided there's no going back. There simply isn't enough opportunity in Fresno. My wife and I have always had great, open communication, but the last six months have probably been the hardest on that particular mechanism. We've had lots of tough conversations about how we're going to pay our bills. Even though things are financially chaotic, the most helpful thing we've been doing is staying interested in our hobbies, entertaining each other, and having deep, emotionally fulfilling conversations. After a meeting with my engineering research group, I can come home to my wife and say, "Hey, these are all the cool things we're doing," and she doesn't have to understand; she just has to nod and say, "That's awesome." She can also talk to me about the people she meets at church or nerd out with me about history. We are a unit, and that's not going to change. I'm still applying for jobs and hunting for more consulting work, and I won't give up. My wife is applying for new jobs while also starting to build her own patient advocacy firm. The biggest thing I've had to remind myself of is that I'm not alone. It sounds trite, but it reminds me that this is not a personal failure. This is just a broken system, and we're all suffering. If you would like to share how you're managing long-term unemployment while searching for full-time work, please email the editor, Manseen Logan, at mlogan@ Read the original article on Business Insider Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
11-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Steele Creek Park helps predict amphibian diversity in southern Appalachia
BRISTOL, Tenn. (WJHL) — Bristol, Tennessee's Steele Creek Park was used during a scientific study to predict amphibian diversity throughout southern Appalachia. According to a news release from the City of Bristol, Tennessee, local researchers from Steele Creek Park and Western Governors University teamed up for the study. During the study, Steele Creek Park was used to develop an ecological model, which could be useful for conservation and land management, the release stated. VOTE: Tri-Cities Best Sweet Tea 'The southern Appalachian ecoregion is an important place for amphibians,' Jeremy Stout, Nature Center Manager and lead author of the study, said in the release. 'There are more than 20 species of frogs and toads found here, and with more than 75 species, it is THE global biodiversity hotspot for salamanders. Our research shows that amphibian richness is correlated to land area in our region, and at a predictable rate.' Nature Center Naturalist Lance Jesse and Western Governors University School of Technology John McMeen coauthored the study. 'Understanding the basic biodiversity of a region is vital to its proper care and stewardship,' Stout said. 'Our model should be valuable to scientists, land managers, conservation workers and anyone else interested in their local amphibian diversity.' The full scientific study can be read here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
