Think Smarter by Kit Harlow
Cover of Think Smarter About AI by Kit Harlow: three teenagers at a laptop surrounded by an AI assistant, a privacy padlock, and a flagged image marked Fake?

In printAges 12–17

Think Smarter About AI

A Teen and Parent Guide to Privacy, Deepfakes, AI Friends, Schoolwork & Staying in Control

“A shared guide for teens and parents.”

AI can answer homework questions, imitate a familiar voice, offer friendship, generate convincing images, and collect more personal information than families realize.

Tell me when it’s on sale What is inside

Retailer links are being set up. Join the list below and you will get them the day they go live.

Inside this book

What the book covers

  • Protect privacy before typing or uploading
  • Recognize deepfakes, voice clones, scams, and synthetic intimate images
  • Use AI for school without surrendering judgment or original work
  • Set healthy boundaries with AI companions
  • Build family rules that protect safety without secret surveillance

The details

Format
Illustrated paperback
Length
30 chapters across five parts
Built for
A teen and an adult reading the same chapter
Extras
Family AI Agreement, incident response checklist, safer prompts, glossary
Resources
Current help and reporting routes for the US, Canada and elsewhere

The PAUSE Method

The book’s five-step safety habit. It reappears in a different form in all thirty chapters.

P
Protect personal information — ask what the system will receive before you type, upload, record or photograph.
A
Ask what is influencing you — a useful answer may still be trying to keep you engaged.
U
Understand that the output may be wrong — confidence is a style, not proof.
S
Seek another source or trusted person — especially where safety, health, money or reputation are involved.
E
Exit and report when something feels unsafe — you do not owe a bot or a stranger one more message.

How a chapter works

The same shape, every time

Every chapter has the same six parts, so a parent and a teen can read the same pages and each get what they need.

  • Teen RealityA situation that could happen at home, at school, or online.
  • What the AI Is DoingThe system explained in plain language.
  • Your MoveA practical response for the teen.
  • Parent LensWhat an adult should notice, and how to help.
  • Talk It ThroughOne question worth discussing together.
  • One Minute PracticeThe idea turned into a habit.

“You do not need to fear every AI tool. You also should not trust one simply because it sounds calm, friendly, or certain.”

From the note to readers

Contents

Every chapter

Part One — Know what you are talking to

  1. The Machine Behind the Conversation
  2. Confident Does Not Mean Correct
  3. Why the Answer Feels Personal
  4. The Business Behind the Bot
  5. Bias Enters Through Patterns
  6. Decisions AI Should Not Make for You

Part Two — Protect your data and identity

  1. Before You Type or Upload
  2. Photos Reveal More Than You Think
  3. When a Familiar Voice Is Fake
  4. Deepfakes and Manufactured Proof
  5. AI Powered Phishing and Account Theft
  6. Consent and Your Digital Reputation

Part Three — AI friends and wellbeing

  1. A Bot Can Feel Like a Friend
  2. The Agreeable Mirror
  3. Advice That Needs a Human
  4. When the Chat Becomes Hard to Leave
  5. Identity, Body Image and Belonging
  6. Using AI Inside Real Relationships

Part Four — School, creativity and original work

  1. Know the Rules Before You Prompt
  2. Use AI as a Tutor Not an Answer Machine
  3. Keep Your Own Voice
  4. Verify Facts, Quotes and Sources
  5. Credit, Copyright and Creative Consent
  6. When an AI Detector Says You Cheated

Part Five — Family rules and recovery

  1. What Parents Actually Need to Understand
  2. Build a Family AI Agreement
  3. Privacy Without Secret Surveillance
  4. The First Hour After Something Goes Wrong
  5. Sextortion and Synthetic Intimate Images
  6. Write Your Personal AI Safety Code

Is it for you?

This book is for you if…

  • Your teen is using AI daily and you are not sure what it is collecting.
  • You want school AI rules discussed before an assignment goes wrong, not after.
  • A voice clone, a deepfake or an account theft is already the situation you are in.
  • You would rather set family rules together than install monitoring quietly.

A note on difficult material

Some chapters cover upsetting situations, including threats involving intimate images, dangerous advice, and emotional dependence. The book says plainly that a reader may skip ahead to the action steps, and that anyone in immediate danger should contact local emergency services or an adult who can act now.

Free download

Free: The Family AI Agreement

The complete fill-in agreement from Think Smarter About AI. It sets out what AI may help with, what never gets uploaded, what needs asking first, how schoolwork is handled, and what happens when something goes wrong — in categories rather than a list of app names, so it survives the next new tool.

One email when there is something worth sending — a new book, a new free resource. Unsubscribe in one click. Your address is not sold or shared.

Open the printable

Free, and no address needed — there is no mailing list to join yet.