Talking to kids is confusing at best, downright mind-boggling at worst. It’s all, skibidi toilet this, bacon avocado that. Seriously, who comes up with this stuff? If you’ve ever felt like an out-of-date old trying to keep up with kids these days, you’re not alone — even artificial intelligence (AI) has no idea what the younger generation is talking about. (And, honestly? We feel so much better!)
A June 2025 study of four AI models, including GPT-4, Claude, Gemini, and Llama 3, found that all of them had trouble understanding slang terms used by Gen Alpha (born between 2010 and 2024).
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“Their distinctive ways of communicating, blending gaming references, memes, and AI-influenced expressions, often obscure concerning interactions from both human moderators and AI safety systems,” the study stated. In other words, the brain rot consumed by Gen Alpha that turns into today’s most common phrases can’t even be kept up with by computers.
Researchers compared similar phrases like, “fr fr let him cook,” which is actually supportive, and “let him cook lmaoo,” which is insulting. Another example compared, “OMGG you ate that up fr,” which is genuine praise, and “you ate that up ig [skull],” which is masked harassment.
After comparing AI to Gen Alpha and their parents, they found that Gen Alpha had a nearly perfect comprehension of their own slang (98 percent), while parents came in at 68 percent understanding, and AI models varied from 58.3 to 68.1 percent.
It’s encouraging that even AI can’t keep up with what Gen Alpha and Gen Z says. After all, these slang terms come from the oddest, most obscure places, like a Justin Bieber crashout or random quotes from movies. It seems like you would have to be on the internet all the time to even have a hint what kids are saying nowadays, which Gen Alpha is.
A 2025 study by Common Sense Media found that by the time kids are 2 years old, 40 percent of them have their own tablet, and by age 4, 58 percent do. By age 8, nearly 1 in 4 kids have their own cell phone. And on average, kids ages 5-8 spend nearly 3.5 hours a day using screen media, which includes TV, gaming, video chatting, and more.
“While technology keeps evolving, what children need hasn’t changed,” Jill Murphy, Chief Content Officer of Common Sense Media, said in a statement. “Parents can take practical steps: be actively involved in what your little ones are watching, choose content you can enjoy together, and connect screen time to real-world experiences — like acting out stories or discussing characters’ feelings. Set clear boundaries around device use, establish tech-free times for meals and bedtime, and remember that media should be just one of many tools for nurturing your child’s natural curiosity.”
Before you go, check out these celebrities who have shared their technology rules for their kids.
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