A Wired magazine article, first published online in July and later in print in September, synthesizes surveys and interviews with students, teachers and parents to report increasing skepticism among young people toward artificial intelligence (AI).
What the surveys found
YPulse, a youth research firm, found that 37% of the 13–17-year-olds they surveyed feel embarrassed by content created with AI. More than half of respondents expressed concern about misleading information and AI-manipulated images, videos and audio of people — commonly referred to as deepfakes.
Pew Research reported that while many teenagers believe AI could be personally beneficial in the future, more than one-quarter of respondents think the technology will have negative effects on society over the next 20 years. Their concerns include environmental impacts, job losses and a decline in critical thinking.
Classroom experiences and examples
Many students use AI to help with school assignments, but several also distrust chatbot answers. Fourteen-year-old Maggie McPherson from Minneapolis recalled that an AI-generated summary once falsely claimed there are whales in one of the Great Lakes, which undermined her confidence in using AI as a study aid.
Sixteen-year-old Jasper Owens from Canada said many classmates "use ChatGPT and other chatbots in place of their brains." Zoe Katz, a teacher in Los Angeles, observes that students often enjoy calling peers who rely on AI "stupid," and regard those who cannot identify AI-generated content as incompetent — even though many young people are unable to distinguish real news from AI-produced falsehoods.
Maggie McPherson finds it worrying that anyone can create misleading stories — for example, falsely claiming that Taylor Swift has retired — and that readers and commenters frequently cannot tell whether such items are AI-generated fabrications or genuine news.
Creative professions and intellectual property fears
Teenagers also fear that AI threatens creative careers. Seventeen-year-old Selene Kelley from Virginia — who socializes mostly with artistically inclined peers — said a St. Patrick’s Day composite at her school was "pure AI junk," which she finds unacceptable as an artist. Preparing for a writing career, Selene worries that if she writes a novel or TV series in the future, AI will "simply steal it."
Environmental concerns
Many young people are anxious about AI's environmental footprint. Selene Kelley’s mother said her daughter and her friends became worried about local water supplies and their future after Google built a data center near the family's home in Virginia. Jasper Owens and his peers also expressed concern about the technology's water and energy use, and fear that AI could exacerbate water shortages and other problems for communities worldwide.
Conclusion
Based on Wired’s reporting, multiple studies and personal accounts, young people's attitudes toward AI are mixed: they frequently use the technology, yet growing numbers are skeptical and worried about misleading content, impacts on creative work, and environmental consequences.
(Cover image: teenagers on phones in Prague; photo by Szondy Dalma, HVG staff photographer.)
