In an AI-Powered World, Make Sure Your Kid Knows How to Pick Up the Phone

I imagine that nearly everyone who saw the news story about a guy in Australia who used AI to help design a custom mRNA vaccine for his dying dog, was in total awe.

Except the headlines simplified it too much.

The guy, Paul Conyngham, was a tech entrepreneur with 17 years of machine learning experience. He knew what he was doing when it came to AI. And he was able to recognize when he'd hit the edge of what he could do alone. And when he got there, he picked up the phone. He called a university researcher. He convinced a lab to say yes. He found scientists who donated their time and expertise to help him cross the finish line.

AI only got him so far. It was his network that carried him across the finish line.

And that's the part of this story nobody is talking about.

I think about my own career and my network has been one of my greatest assets. I can work a room. That's a strength I'm aware of and grateful for. But I wasn't always that person.

I was a quiet kid. So, my mom put me in theater.

She wasn't trying to make me an actress. She saw that I needed to build my confidence and presence. She made a deliberate choice to put me in an environment that would build those skills. It worked.

Here's the other thing about my network though, being able to work a room only gets you so far. What actually built my career was doing excellent work. Showing up with passion. Caring enough to go beyond what was asked. That got me noticed. And being noticed is the entry point into a relationship which leads to another one. And a network is born.

Which brings me to our kids

We are spending enormous energy right now preparing them for an AI world. Critical thinking, AI literacy, knowing when to use it and when not to. All of that matters deeply. It’s one of the reasons I built AI for Curious Kids.

But Paul's story made me ask a different question.

What are we doing to make sure our kids can still pick up the phone?

As everything becomes more tech-centric, more screen-mediated, more AI-assisted, I worry we are quietly letting something atrophy. Kids have access to more information than any generation in history. But access to information is not the same as access to people. And people — the right people, at the right moment — are still what moves things from possible to real.

A strong network doesn't require the biggest personality in the room. It doesn't require being an extrovert. It requires being excellent at something, being genuinely curious about other people, and showing up consistently over time. Those are learnable skills. And we can start building them now.

A few things parents can do:

Make them do something in front of other people. Theater, sports, debate, a school project that requires a partner. It just needs to be something that requires your kid to show up and be present. It doesn't matter if they're great at it.

Teach them to follow up. After a meaningful conversation, an interview, a mentor meeting —send a note. Say thank you. Reference something specific. This is a habit most adults don't have. Kids who learn it early stand out. These examples are for older kids. But for younger kids, have them send a thank you note or video to friends for birthday gifts. Or even just telling someone when they’ve done something nice.

Model curiosity about other people. I’m talking about you, parents. Ask your kids about their friends. Like really ask them and go beyond the surface. Genuine interest in other people is the foundation of every meaningful professional relationship. Show them that.

When your kid finds something they’re good at, nurture it. When they excel at something, they feel good. They also get noticed or they meet new people. Help your kids find the thing they care enough about to go further on.

Put them in rooms. Intentionally. The way my mom put me in theater. Not every kid needs theater, but every kid needs some environment where they are building relationships with people outside their immediate circle. Camps, clubs, volunteering, internships, community programs. The room matters.

We all need people to show up for us

Paul Conyngham saved his dog because he had intention, expertise, and a network of people who showed up for him when it counted.

We can teach our kids to use AI. We absolutely should.

But let's not forget to teach them how to build the network that makes everything else possible. In a world where AI can do more and more, the humans who know the right people and have earned the right to call them — those humans are going to matter more, not less.

That's not something AI can give them.