It’s show-and-tell day, and the teacher is trying to be “modern.” There’s a new rule: if you used AI help, you stamp it with SynthID disclosure. The teacher says it like it’s a big deal. The kids treat it like a sticker.
One kid holds up a comic they made with an AI image generator and some hand-drawn edits. “I picked the colors and wrote the joke,” they explain. The teacher stamps “SynthID” and moves on. Another kid holds up a crayon drawing of a dragon. Everyone claps. Nobody boos. Nobody accuses the dragon of cheating.
A third kid raises their hand and asks, completely sincere, “If I used spellcheck, do I need a watermark too?” The class laughs. The teacher pauses. You can see the moment when adult anxiety tries to enter the room and immediately slips on a LEGO.
The sweet bit is simple and sweet: kids already understand what adults keep forgetting. Tools are normal. Credit is polite. The real question is whether you made something that someone else can feel. And if a tiny invisible watermark helps us stop arguing and start sharing… why not?
