Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
"A human-raised childhood is the best way to get your child ready for a high-tech future."
This week on Lavin Voices, we talk to Lavin Exclusive Speaker Dr. Dana Suskind: pediatric surgeon, Professor of Surgery and Pediatrics at the University of Chicago, and New York Times bestselling author of Thirty Million Words, Parent Nation, and Human Raised. Dana has spent her career studying how human interaction shapes developing brains—and now she’s asking what happens when AI begins entering those relationships. Her urgent, research-backed keynotes help parents, educators, policymakers, and leaders use technology without losing the messy, irreplaceable human connections that help children learn, adapt, and thrive.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
- Why human relationships are essential to how children learn
- Why the friction in human interaction is a feature, not a bug
- How AI companions could change the way children understand relationships
- How resilience is built through setbacks, struggle, and repair
- Why a human-raised childhood may be the best preparation for a high-tech adulthood
- How Dana’s HOPE framework can help us decide which technologies belong in children’s lives
- Why AI should enhance human connection—not replace it
In conversation with The Lavin Agency’s Director of Intellectual Talent, Charles Yao, Dana answers these questions and more:
- How is AI entering childhood?
- Will AI replace parents and teachers?
- How does AI affect resilience, empathy, and critical thinking?
- How should parents and educators decide which AI tools to use?
- What role should AI play in schools?
- How should policymakers regulate AI for children?
Learn more about Dana or book her as a keynote speaker: thelavinagency.com/speakers/dana-suskind/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=dana+suskind+lavin+voices
Follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn, and TikTok for more big ideas: @TheLavinAgency
Credits:
Producers: Alethea Ng and Kshiteej Sawhney
Host: Charles Yao
Guest: Dana Suskind
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0:00 Cold Open
1:00 Intro to Dana Suskind
2:31 Why Human Raised Matters
4:46 AI as a Product Market
5:29 AI and Early Childhood
7:06 What AI Teddy Bears Can’t Teach
9:48 Resilience and Human Inconsistency
12:11 30 Million Words and Human Care
14:22 Parental Instincts and AI Safety
17:09 Lessons from the AI Revolution
18:13 Low-Tech Childhood, High-Tech Adulthood
20:37 Daily Guardrails for Parents
20:56 The HOPE Framework
23:03 Pro-Human Technology
24:12 What Educators Should Watch For
25:55 AI and the Changing Role of Teachers
29:12 School as a Social Connection Machine
30:08 Smart Uses of AI in the Classroom
32:01 Policy Guardrails for AI
33:30 Responsibility of Tech Companies
35:26 How Tech Builders Respond
36:18 AI in the Workplace
38:50 What AI Should and Shouldn’t Do
39:55 Outro
"A human-raised childhood is the best way to get your child ready for a high-tech future."
This week on Lavin Voices, we talk to Lavin Exclusive Speaker Dr. Dana Suskind: pediatric surgeon, Professor of Surgery and Pediatrics at the University of Chicago, and New York Times bestselling author of Thirty Million Words, Parent Nation, and Human Raised. Dana has spent her career studying how human interaction shapes developing brains—and now she’s asking what happens when AI begins entering those relationships. Her urgent, research-backed keynotes help parents, educators, policymakers, and leaders use technology without losing the messy, irreplaceable human connections that help children learn, adapt, and thrive.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
- Why human relationships are essential to how children learn
- Why the friction in human interaction is a feature, not a bug
- How AI companions could change the way children understand relationships
- How resilience is built through setbacks, struggle, and repair
- Why a human-raised childhood may be the best preparation for a high-tech adulthood
- How Dana’s HOPE framework can help us decide which technologies belong in children’s lives
- Why AI should enhance human connection—not replace it
In conversation with The Lavin Agency’s Director of Intellectual Talent, Charles Yao, Dana answers these questions and more:
- How is AI entering childhood?
- Will AI replace parents and teachers?
- How does AI affect resilience, empathy, and critical thinking?
- How should parents and educators decide which AI tools to use?
- What role should AI play in schools?
- How should policymakers regulate AI for children?
Learn more about Dana or book her as a keynote speaker: thelavinagency.com/speakers/dana-suskind/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=dana+suskind+lavin+voices
Follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn, and TikTok for more big ideas: @TheLavinAgency
Credits:
Producers: Alethea Ng and Kshiteej Sawhney
Host: Charles Yao
Guest: Dana Suskind
------
0:00 Cold Open
1:00 Intro to Dana Suskind
2:31 Why Human Raised Matters
4:46 AI as a Product Market
5:29 AI and Early Childhood
7:06 What AI Teddy Bears Can’t Teach
9:48 Resilience and Human Inconsistency
12:11 30 Million Words and Human Care
14:22 Parental Instincts and AI Safety
17:09 Lessons from the AI Revolution
18:13 Low-Tech Childhood, High-Tech Adulthood
20:37 Daily Guardrails for Parents
20:56 The HOPE Framework
23:03 Pro-Human Technology
24:12 What Educators Should Watch For
25:55 AI and the Changing Role of Teachers
29:12 School as a Social Connection Machine
30:08 Smart Uses of AI in the Classroom
32:01 Policy Guardrails for AI
33:30 Responsibility of Tech Companies
35:26 How Tech Builders Respond
36:18 AI in the Workplace
38:50 What AI Should and Shouldn’t Do
39:55 Outro
