Your kid could outsmart AI one day if they have this mindset

In an era dominated by artificial intelligence, traditional markers of intelligence, like IQ, are losing their lustre. Machines now outperform humans in calculation, pattern recognition and even strategy.

The classic IQ test — once the gold standard of intellectual capability — can hardly capture the skills that matter in a world where AI writes, predicts and solves faster than any human mind. What becomes invaluable instead is not raw intelligence, it is curiosity.

Why curiosity, not IQ, will make or break your child’s future in the age of AI

A 2022 cognitive psychology study, The Relationship Between Curiosity, Fluid Intelligence, and Knowledge, revealed that being curious acts as a powerful memory enhancer as not only does curiosity improve retention of the information you were actively seeking but it also boosts your recall of incidental information learned alongside it.

This underscores how curiosity primes the brain for deeper and more lasting learning.Parents must future-proof their kids brain as IQ is out, curiosity is in and it is the number one trait your child needs to beat the bots. A peer-reviewed study published in 2011 in Perspectives on Psychological Science presented intellectual curiosity — measured via the Typical Intellectual Engagement construct — as a core, independent predictor of academic achievement, alongside IQ and effort (conscientiousness).

This meta-analysis suggested that curiosity is a robust predictor of academic success, comparable or superior to IQ and conscientiousness. It argued for elevating curiosity as a core academic asset, not just a nice-to-have personality trait.

Don’t raise a genius. Raise a question-asker

Your child’s curiosity may matter more than intelligence as curiosity creates the ability to adapt — an important ability in the AI age. Technology moves so fast that last year's knowledge can become outdated knowledge within a few years and sometimes months.

Individuals with high IQ skills but low curiosity may perform well in an environment when the world remains static but they struggle when the frameworks change.

Curiosity creates a development mindset. It calves us to explore emerging tools, new multidisciplinary ways of looking at a problem and new methods that may be outside the accepted norm, which helps find a solution in a time of rapid change.As per a 2011 study in Psychology Today, curiosity and conscientiousness were found to be more important than intelligence in predicting long-term academic and professional performance.

Highlighted in popular media and backed by research, this perspective emphasizes that while intelligence matters, curiosity and the habit of follow-through (conscientiousness) are stronger long-term success drivers — especially in changing environments where adaptability and exploration matter more than rote knowledge.

As we pass through the door into the age of AI, the world will increasingly reward those who are insatiably curious over those who are merely intelligent. Curiosity is the compass that will navigate humanity through territories and oceans never before traversed — where AI can calculate the map, only the human mind may determine our ultimate destination. In this paradigm of discovery, the biggest asset is not never realising the depth of what you could know, but fully realising the depth of how much you are willing to pursue it.