Teens reveal true opinions on artificial intelligence

Teenagers prioritize AI risks as a top concern: A new poll reveals that American teenagers consider addressing potential risks of artificial intelligence a crucial issue for lawmakers, rivaling long-standing concerns like social inequality and climate change.

• The poll, conducted by the Center for Youth and AI and YouGov, surveyed 1,017 U.S. teens aged 13-18 in July and August 2024.
• 80% of respondents believe it’s “extremely” or “somewhat” important for lawmakers to address AI risks, ranking just below healthcare access and affordability as a top priority.
• This level of concern surpassed social inequality (78%) and climate change (77%) among the surveyed teens.

Unique perspective of digital natives: Teenagers’ lifelong exposure to digital technology provides them with a distinct viewpoint on AI’s societal impacts.

• Saheb Gulati, 17, co-founder of the Center for Youth and AI, emphasizes that their generation’s perspective is valuable because of their age and familiarity with digital technology.
• Rachel Hanebutt, assistant professor at Georgetown University’s Thrive Center, notes that this poll offers insight into teens’ thoughts about AI’s role in their future, going beyond superficial usage statistics.

AI adoption and concerns among teens: The poll indicates widespread AI use among teenagers, coupled with significant concerns about its potential risks.

• Nearly half of the respondents use ChatGPT or similar tools several times per week, aligning with other research suggesting teens adopt AI faster than their parents.
• Despite being early adopters, teens express caution rather than unqualified enthusiasm for AI technology.
• Immediate threats like AI-generated misinformation (59%) and deepfakes (58%) top the list of concerns.
• Longer-term worries are also prevalent, with 47% concerned about advanced autonomous AI potentially escaping human control.

Career implications and creative AI: Teenagers are considering AI’s impact on their future careers and generally support AI-generated creative works.

• Nearly two-thirds of respondents factor in AI implications when planning their careers.
• 57% of teens favor AI-generated art, film, and music, while only 26% oppose it.
• Less than a third of respondents are concerned about AI copyright violations.

AI relationships and companionship: Teens show mixed feelings about forming relationships with AI entities.

• 46% find AI companionship acceptable, while 44% consider it unacceptable.
• A clear majority (68%) oppose romantic relationships with AI, compared to 24% who find them acceptable.

Importance of youth representation in AI policy: The poll highlights the need for young people’s voices in shaping AI regulations and policies.

• Sneha Revanur, founder of Encode Justice, emphasizes the value of this data in future meetings with policymakers.
• The poll provides concrete evidence of young people’s concerns about AI risks, challenging the notion that the public is indifferent to AI policy.

Broader implications: The poll results underscore the importance of including youth perspectives in AI governance and policy decisions.

• As AI continues to shape various aspects of society, the concerns and insights of digital natives become increasingly crucial for developing balanced and effective AI regulations.
• The gap between teens’ high level of concern about AI risks and recent policy decisions, such as the veto of California Senate Bill 1047, highlights the need for better alignment between public sentiment and legislative action in the rapidly evolving field of AI technology.