Ever had a text go sideways?
You write “OK” … they read “OKAY?!”
Suddenly you’re in a fight you didn’t know you were having.
That’s the danger of faux intimacy.
When we write, the reader hears it in their voice. If their default soundtrack is doubt, cynicism, or defensiveness, your message gets twisted on the way in.
As founder of the Confident Video Presenter Academy, I’ve seen this play out a thousand times. The same message in email sparks confusion, resentment, or ghosting. Delivered in video, it lands as intended—tone, warmth, nuance intact.
Which brings me to this unsettling piece by Kristina Lerman and David Chu:
They cite a New Yorker essay where a student said this about an AI chatbot:
“I don’t think anyone has ever paid such pure attention to me and my thinking and my questions… ever.”
That quote punched me in the gut. To feel seen, heard, central—that’s the most basic of human cravings. And it was fulfilled… by software.
Let’s be clear: kids don’t need artificial intimacy.
They need attention they can trust.
That’s why the Best Grandad Project rests on three pillars: Play, Presence, Purpose.
The middle one—Presence—is non-negotiable.
Because in a world that never looks up from the scroll, real attention is revolutionary.
Kids can smell fake interest before you finish your sentence. They don’t need another distracted nod. They need someone who listens without glancing at a screen, who shows up without rushing to leave.
Grandads have the time. And if we give it, that time becomes more valuable than any toy, gadget, or inheritance.
Meanwhile, here’s what Meta is doing with its time:
Meta’s AI rules have let bots hold ‘sensual’ chats with kids, offer false medical info
Read it yourself—short, informative, unsettling. In their own internal documents, Meta wrestles with how to train AI chatbots not to go off the rails. Spoiler: they don’t have it figured out.
“It takes a village to raise a child” should be more than a bumper sticker.
If we don’t step up, our kids’ “village” is going to be filled with strangers—digital or otherwise—who don’t have their best interests at heart.
The Best Grandad Project is about making sure kids get the real thing. Human presence. Trusted attention. Love without an algorithm.
Don’t let algorithms raise the next generation—join the village.