Are Kids Cooked? - What AI Is Doing to Children's Brains in 2026

13% of US teens used AI for schoolwork in 2023. 26% in 2024. 54% in 2026. The Pew Research curve that quadrupled in three years. And 72% have tried AI companions. A third have chosen AI over humans for serious conversations (Common Sense Media 2025).Episode 3 of Are We Cooked? is the most important episode of Season 1. The kid question is permanent. The brain finishes wiring at 25. What happens between now and then can't be undone.Anurag Sharma walks through:- The Pew 2026 + Common Sense 2025 stats that should keep parents up at night- The optimist case: AI as the great educational equalizer (Gates Foundation, Bloom's 2-Sigma, Khanmigo data)- The pessimist case: the shortcuts that rewire cognition and the loneliness that AI companions are accelerating (Haidt, Turkle, CMU retention data)- What both sides miss, including the parenting question nobody is answering- The split Anurag is watching with kids he knows, friends' children, the next generation coming into the workforce- Three sharper questions for any parent, educator, or anyone who cares about what humans becomeNot a hype show. Not a doom show. A thinking show. We don't hand you the answer. We hand you a sharper version of the question.Are kids cooked? You decide.CHAPTERS:[00:00] The Curve That Quadrupled[00:41] Meet Your Host[01:49] Why Kids, Why Right Now[03:41] The Optimist Case[07:41] The Pessimist Case[09:56] What Both Sides Miss[12:09] Are We? You Decide.