Dad Uses AI To Help With Son’s Math Homework, Backfires Spectacularly
A dad who turned to AI for help with his son's math homework got an unexpectedly hilarious response, and his wife told Newsweek how she managed to film the magic moment.
Julieta Meza from Orange County, California shared footage of her partner Alan's attempts at using technology to assist him with their son Jacob's third grade homework assignment. It's fair to say it didn't go entirely to plan.
A significant proportion of school kids appear to be using generative AI tools to assist with schoolwork. A 2024 AXIOS survey of 763 students aged 13 to 18 shows 53 percent admit to using AI to help them with their homework.
Jacob might be a little younger but his dad had valid reason for turning to his Samsung Bixby for help. "Jacob is in dual classes, both English and Spanish and we sometimes don't understand the Spanish word problems," Julieta Meza told Newsweek.
Their son also attends an after school program, as both his parents work, meaning they don't always end up being the ones providing assistance on his assignments . "At this program, the staff help him with homework," she said. "Whatever homework he doesn't get to finish, we will help him at home."
On this particular occasion, however, Alan found himself trying to tackle an especially complicated math problem that had been written out in Spanish. With Meza busy, he turned to the Bixby tool for help.
"I was in the kitchen cooking, when I heard Jacob's dad talking to Bixby," Meza said. "I thought it was really funny because I couldn't believe how complicated elementary school homework is for us to help our kids with as adults and we have to turn to the internet for help."
Eager to capture what was happening, Meza hit record on her phone and ended up filming a hilarious exchange between Alan and Bixby.
"Hey Bixby, can you help me with this puzzle?" Alan is heard to ask at the start of the clip. "I didn't understand that," comes the reply. "Can you help me..." Alan begins to ask again only for Bixby to cut in with another "I didn't understand that."
When they do eventually get Bixby's thoughts on the task at hand, the response is hilarious. "Hmm," the Bixby is heard to say. "It might be best if you got human help for human homework."
Cue laughter from Alan. Meza said they had turned to Bixby "because we couldn't figure out the translation for the word problem from Spanish to English." Though it might not have worked that time, they did ultimately end up getting some help with it.
"Eventually, Bixby provided some YouTube links for us to watch videos on how to solve the problem," Meza said.
Though they were able to laugh about it at the time, Meza is a firm believer in the idea that children shouldn't get homework as it can cause difficulties for booth children and parents. She's not alone in that respect .
"Kids already attend school for close to 7 hours and do a lot of learning in class. Teachers are experts and went to school and learned the materials they teach our kids, it's their specialty area," she said.
"A lot of the homework assignments are sometimes difficult for parents to understand and be able to help our children with."
Unfortunately it sounds like they might be needing Bixby's help again some day. Let's hope it's a little more cooperative next time.
This story was originally published September 29, 2024, 5:00 PM.
