No one has adopted artificial intelligence more enthusiastically than Gen Z. And not just to help with their homework. Half of American teens are in regular contact with an “AI companion” – with many saying they prefer it over real people.
But Gen Z is skeptical, too. They worry about job security, about offloading their thinking to machines, about AI’s staggering energy consumption. Most of all, they worry they won’t get a say in shaping our future.
Ava Smithing, 24, and Sneha Revanur, 22, are trying to change that. Smithing is the advocacy director at the Young People’s Alliance and the host of “Left to Their Own Devices,” a podcast about how technology is rewriting childhood. Revanur is the founder of Encode AI, a youth-led nonprofit focused on AI policy. Politico once called her the “Greta Thunberg of AI.”
Together, they’re two of the most influential young voices in tech. So we brought them on to find out what older generations are getting wrong about AI – and what Gen Z wants from the most powerful technology in history.
Mentioned:
Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology, by Neil Postman
Gameplan, by Encode AI
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