Young People and AI Transformation
Given the uncertainty, what should parents, educators, managers, and executives tell young people? The best message for all seems to have four guiding principles:
- try to reduce stress;
- study what interests you;
- accept that your life is likely to be characterized by an accelerating rate of change; and
- try to participate in shaping the transformative adaptations that society will have to make.
Background
The idea that the best way forward is to set a career goal and structure your education around that is well established. Thirty years ago, a young girl decided that she wanted to become a
veterinarian. She knew that it would be difficult to get into a vet school. So, she started building a record of strong biological science courses and extracurricular activities working in animal
rescue.
More recently, a young man decided that he wanted to become a fireman. He took high school courses that would gain him admission to a community college to take the prerequisites for
admission to a fire academy run by a local government.
All of them were successful. Planning ahead and working to qualify for a particular job worked. But what happens if, while you are preparing, the job disappears?
Current Uncertainty
In October of 2024, AIWG (AI Working Group) started researching AI job loss. We started publishing about AI job loss in June of 2025 and AI job loss in the constellation of the broader concerning societal effects of GenAI in September 2025. By February of 2026, there seemed to be wider societal recognition of the problem. This can be seen in two publications in that month: the first in The Atlantic and the second in a widely read blog post.
