Family IT Guy Podcast
- Episodes
- 6
- Released
- daily
- Latest episode
- Nov 3, 2026
About the podcast
Ben Gillenwater helps families protect children from digital dangers, bringing 30 years of cybersecurity expertise to the parenting journey. His background includes working with the NSA and serving as Chief Technologist of a $10 billion IT company, where he built global-scale systems and understood technology's risks at every level.
His mission began when he gave his young son an iPad with "kid-safe" apps—only to discover inappropriate content days later. Despite his deep technical background, Ben realized that if protecting children online was challenging for him, it must be even more difficult for parents without his expertise.
Through Family IT Guy, Ben creates videos and articles that help parents and kids learn how to leverage the positive parts of the internet while avoiding the dangerous and risky parts. His approach bridges the knowledge gap between complex technology and practical family protection, making digital safety accessible to everyone.
Episodes 6
My 11-Year-Old Builds Video Games With AI. These Are My Rules.
My 11-year-old builds his own video games with an AI assistant. Here are the rules that make it safe. This is the first time I've talked about this publicly. He works on a Mac Mini connected to a TV I can see …
Show notes
My 11-year-old builds his own video games with an AI assistant. Here are the rules that make it safe.
This is the first time I've talked about this publicly. He works on a Mac Mini connected to a TV I can see from my desk, and there are two hard rules: it only runs under my full supervision, and he has to ask me every single time. On top of watching with my own eyes, I built an AI tool that watches his AI and reports back to me, in case I miss something.
I tuned his builder so that instead of just handing him a finished game, it explains what it's doing and helps him learn as he goes. He's on his second game now. I spent 30 years in cybersecurity and thousands of hours with these systems, so I know how to supervise them, and I want to turn this into something other families can use safely. A parallel Business Insider essay by another parent describes the same thing happening in her home.
Chapters:
0:00 Kids are building games with AI
0:39 My son is doing the same thing
1:10 The supervision rule
2:35 Built to teach, not do
3:37 What's next
Sources:
Business Insider, a parent watches her 11-year-old build a game with AI: https://www.businessinsider.com/11-year-old-built-his-own-video-game-with-ai-2026-7
From the weekly Family IT Guy livestream. Watch the full stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLIhT9TId2Y
Common Sense Media tested Perplexity, an AI search tool, with accounts set up as a 15-year-old and gave it its lowest rating, unacceptable risk. What they found, and why I think kids should never use AI alone: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wx-omAJAlT4
Family IT Guy helps parents protect their kids from the two biggest digital dangers: addictive algorithms and anonymous communication, and the ways AI is making both worse. Ben Gillenwater spent 30 years in cybersecurity, and he teaches this as a parent in the same trenches you are.
Free preview, Lock Down Your Kid's iPhone:
https://courses.familyitguy.com/iphone?flow=free-preview&utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=description
iPhone Parental Controls Masterclass:
https://www.familyitguy.com/iphone-masterclass?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=description
Website: https://www.familyitguy.com
Listen to the Family IT Guy Podcast:
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/family-it-guy-podcast/id1831912044
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/72yZUVsOqdDk7en5FS9U8g
#parenting #onlinesafety #digitalparenting #kidsonline #cybersecurity #familyitguy
Should Kids Use AI? Where I Draw the Line
AI is already in most kids' schools, usually with no training for the kids or the teachers. Here is where I draw the line for my own family. My position is that parents need to learn AI first, before their kids …
Show notes
AI is already in most kids' schools, usually with no training for the kids or the teachers. Here is where I draw the line for my own family.
My position is that parents need to learn AI first, before their kids do, because you can only really teach something you understand from experience. If your kids are not using AI yet, I would not introduce it. If they already are, because a school required it, then the job is to teach them how to use it well and avoid the harm.
I explain why this matters for a developing brain. Dr. Daniel Amen, who has done more brain scans than anyone, describes the brain like a muscle: use it and it grows, outsource your thinking and it weakens. For a kid whose brain is still forming, handing the thinking to a machine works against the development itself. I also cover the upside, because used the right way these tools can teach and tutor instead of doing the work for you.
Chapters:
0:00 AI is already in schools
1:38 What it does to a developing brain
3:33 Parents learn first
4:25 If they're not using it, don't start
4:44 The right way to use it
Sources:
Most US high school students now use generative AI for schoolwork (College Board, 2025): https://newsroom.collegeboard.org/new-research-majority-high-school-students-use-generative-ai-schoolwork
Common Sense Media tested Perplexity, an AI search tool, with accounts set up as a 15-year-old and gave it its lowest rating, unacceptable risk. What they found, and why I think kids should never use AI alone: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wx-omAJAlT4
From the weekly Family IT Guy livestream. Watch the full stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLIhT9TId2Y
Family IT Guy helps parents protect their kids from the two biggest digital dangers: addictive algorithms and anonymous communication, and the ways AI is making both worse. Ben Gillenwater spent 30 years in cybersecurity, and he teaches this as a parent in the same trenches you are.
Free preview, Lock Down Your Kid's iPhone:
https://courses.familyitguy.com/iphone?flow=free-preview&utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=description
iPhone Parental Controls Masterclass:
https://www.familyitguy.com/iphone-masterclass?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=description
Website: https://www.familyitguy.com
Listen to the Family IT Guy Podcast:
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/family-it-guy-podcast/id1831912044
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/72yZUVsOqdDk7en5FS9U8g
#parenting #onlinesafety #digitalparenting #kidsonline #cybersecurity #familyitguy
Best First Phone for Kids: The Four Options
Bark Phone or Watch, $30 off: https://www.familyitguy.com/go/bark/direct?src=yt-gNnx6Z-TK7w Click my Bark links to automatically apply discount code FAMILYITGUY for $30 off a Bark Phone or Watch, or enter the …
Show notes
Bark Phone or Watch, $30 off: https://www.familyitguy.com/go/bark/direct?src=yt-gNnx6Z-TK7w
Click my Bark links to automatically apply discount code FAMILYITGUY for $30 off a Bark Phone or Watch, or enter the code at checkout. I earn a commission at no extra cost to you, and that supports Family IT Guy's mission to set kids up for success.
If you want a first phone for an 11-year-old that does calls and not much else, you have four real options.
I go through all four: a cellular smartwatch, an old-style dumb phone, the Light Phone, and a tamper-proof internet phone. Then I explain how to strip a normal iPhone down so it has no browser, no App Store, and no camera, using a setting called assistive access mode that turns the phone into a few big simple buttons.
Which one is right depends on two questions: do you need to see your kid's location, and do you want the device to grow with them over time. I tell you which way I went for my own son and why.
Chapters:
0:00 Four options
0:22 Option 1: a watch
1:31 Option 2: a dumb phone
2:17 Option 3: the Light Phone
2:57 Option 4: a tamper-proof phone
3:37 The whitelisted iPhone
From the weekly Family IT Guy livestream. Watch the full stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLIhT9TId2Y
Family IT Guy helps parents protect their kids from the two biggest digital dangers: addictive algorithms and anonymous communication, and the ways AI is making both worse. Ben Gillenwater spent 30 years in cybersecurity, and he teaches this as a parent in the same trenches you are.
Free preview, Lock Down Your Kid's iPhone:
https://courses.familyitguy.com/iphone?flow=free-preview&utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=description
iPhone Parental Controls Masterclass:
https://www.familyitguy.com/iphone-masterclass?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=description
Website: https://www.familyitguy.com
Listen to the Family IT Guy Podcast:
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/family-it-guy-podcast/id1831912044
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/72yZUVsOqdDk7en5FS9U8g
#parenting #onlinesafety #digitalparenting #kidsonline #cybersecurity #familyitguy
A Phone for a Social Tween: Start With Nothing, Add Back Slowly
Choosing a phone or device for a very social tween means fighting two fears at once: that they'll be left out, and that they'll be exposed. My answer is to start with a device that does nothing and add …
Show notes
Choosing a phone or device for a very social tween means fighting two fears at once: that they'll be left out, and that they'll be exposed.
My answer is to start with a device that does nothing and add functionality back one piece at a time, instead of buying a device that does everything and trying to switch parts off. I walk through why, and what to do about the app every social kid asks for.
The part parents find hardest to believe: when a kid loses access to something like Snapchat, their real friendships tend to get better, not worse. The professionals I've talked to who work with thousands of families see the same thing over and over. I explain what's actually happening there, and why I'd hold that line even when it's the hardest parenting moment you'll face.
Chapters:
0:00 The whitelist approach
1:19 The gate rule
1:53 The Snapchat problem
2:49 What happens when it's taken away
3:50 Holding the line
5:36 Music and texting limits
5:57 Marketing exposure, not screen time
9:23 The bedroom rule
From the weekly Family IT Guy livestream. Watch the full stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLIhT9TId2Y
Family IT Guy helps parents protect their kids from the two biggest digital dangers: addictive algorithms and anonymous communication, and the ways AI is making both worse. Ben Gillenwater spent 30 years in cybersecurity, and he teaches this as a parent in the same trenches you are.
Free preview, Lock Down Your Kid's iPhone:
https://courses.familyitguy.com/iphone?flow=free-preview&utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=description
iPhone Parental Controls Masterclass:
https://www.familyitguy.com/iphone-masterclass?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=description
Website: https://www.familyitguy.com
Listen to the Family IT Guy Podcast:
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/family-it-guy-podcast/id1831912044
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/72yZUVsOqdDk7en5FS9U8g
#parenting #onlinesafety #digitalparenting #kidsonline #cybersecurity #familyitguy
AI Videos vs Deepfakes: How to Tell What’s Real Online (With Jeremy Carrasco)
How do you protect your kids online when even adults can’t tell what’s real anymore? AI-generated videos, deepfakes, and synthetic audio are not just a tech issue. They are showing up inside the apps our kids …
Show notes
How do you protect your kids online when even adults can’t tell what’s real anymore?
AI-generated videos, deepfakes, and synthetic audio are not just a tech issue. They are showing up inside the apps our kids use every day, mixed in with cartoons, music clips, and “safe” educational content. Most children, and plenty of adults, are being trained to trust whatever looks and sounds real.
In this episode of the Family IT Guy Podcast, I sat down with Jeremy Carrasco@showtoolsai a media producer and AI analyst, to talk about what parents need to understand right now. How AI content is made, how algorithms push it, and how families can spot it before it causes harm.
Jeremy is not guessing from the outside. He has spent years in professional video production, live streaming, and audio engineering. He knows what real human media looks like when it is made by actual people, and where AI still gives itself away.
One of the biggest tells?
👉 AI doesn’t breathe.
AI videos can look believable, especially on a small phone screen. But once you know what to listen and look for, the cracks show up fast. Those cracks matter because kids do not have the life experience or media literacy to notice them on their own.
In this conversation, we break things down in a way parents can actually use.
First, AI videos versus deepfakes.
They are often treated as the same thing, but they are not. Jeremy explains the difference, why deepfakes tend to be targeted, and why mass-produced AI videos are now flooding platforms at scale, often designed to hook kids with familiar characters, faces, or voices.
Second, why audio matters more than visuals.
Parents are taught to watch what their kids see, but listening is just as important. We talk about unnatural speech pacing, missing breaths, flat or mismatched emotion, and why the human voice is still one of the hardest things for AI to fake convincingly.
Third, visual and behavioral red flags parents can learn.
Subtle background warping, strange eye movement, awkward timing, and non-human rhythm. These are things media professionals spot quickly, but they can also be taught to parents who want to be more proactive instead of reactive.
We also zoom out to the bigger issue parents are up against.
Algorithms do not understand childhood, safety, or values. They understand engagement. A feed that starts with something harmless, Bluey, Miss Rachel, animal videos, or learning content, can shift quickly after one curious search or autoplay chain. That is how kids end up exposed to disturbing, violent, or sexualized AI-generated content that looks playful but is not.
We talk about:
- Why kids’ algorithms are some of the most profitable and dangerous systems online
- How “safe” feeds slowly drift without parents realizing
- Why YouTube Kids is safer than regular YouTube but still not a set-it-and-forget-it solution
- The rise of AI-generated sexualized content involving children
- Why sharing kids online can create exposure parents never intended
- Safer ways to share family photos using privacy-first tools
- Why adults have to act as stewards of their children’s digital privacy, even when the platforms will not
This episode is not about fear or banning technology. It is about giving parents clarity in a digital world that is changing faster than most families realize.
If you are raising kids right now, or care about the internet they are growing up in, this conversation is worth your time.
🎙️ Guest: Jeremy Carrasco — Media Producer & AI Analyst
🎧 Podcast: Family IT Guy
Similar podcasts
More Kids & Family podcasts
Is this your podcast?
Confirm it with an entry in your feed: you get a code here, add it as podcast:txt to the channel of your feed, and we check it. Your podcast is then shown as “verified” on SoundNode.