AI and Gen Z

Why am I die-hard about this statement?:

𝗔𝗜 𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗳𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗯𝗲𝗱𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗸 𝗼𝗳 𝘀𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗲𝘁𝘆. 

Because I am looking down the road at the next generation who are outsourcing their entire lives to chatbots. When that generation starts raising a new generation, there will eventually be entire societies that have fundamentally different relational skills (atrophied patience, listening, other-centeredness, personal agency, and decision-making abilities)...unless we help shape things now.

I believe AI can be used beneficially! And I am simultaneously keeping an eye on how GenZ is actually using it, because that supersedes any ideal ways we propose it to be used. 

Noreena Hertz's recent article shares findings from focus groups she conducted with university students, highlights include:

"...all the students were now using chatbots as their personal confidence coach and etiquette adviser. Part umpire, part interpreter, some were putting their messages through AI before pressing send so they didn’t “sound harsh”.

“It helps me properly structure what I’m feeling,” one participant explained. Another told me: “I use it to check I’ve responded to a social situation correctly.”

"A young woman described how she had started turning to it for any “moral question” she had. She had recently asked if she should give money to a homeless person she passed on the way to lectures."

"Another young man had become so reliant on the chatbot he struggled to make any decision at all without checking in with it first – from what to wear, to what to have for breakfast, to whether to go to the library or stay at home."

"At precisely the age when young adults need to be learning to read body language, interpret nuance, apologise, forgive, and figure out when to stand their ground, an astonishing amount of this foundational emotional work is now being subcontracted to a machine."

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This is a call to raise preparedness so that GenZ can understand ways to enhance their lives using AI without ceding agency (especially during these critical emotional and developmental stages).

So when I say AI should help us rehearse instead of replace relationships, these findings along with others are why I say it. My first preference is that humans relate to humans, but that train has long left the station, so let's continue to collaborate across disciplines to build responsibly and help equip society for wise usage.