The Download: kids’ thoughts on AI, and female clones of male mice
| Source: MIT Technology Review AI
Tags: AI adoption, youth attitudes, AI skepticism, MIT Technology Review, social impact
A qualitative survey of 10-18 year olds by MIT Technology Review found teens are significantly more skeptical of AI than adults assume—many refuse to use it, cite environmental and creativity concerns, and are not lobbying for it the way they demand iPhones.
Details
MIT Technology Review's Download newsletter features a qualitative study of children aged 10-18 conducted by Jen Swetzoff and Keeley McNamara, founding editors of Anyway, an independent print magazine for tweens and teens. Contrary to editors' expectations, the researchers found nuanced and often negative attitudes: many kids refused to participate because they actively oppose AI, others worried about cheating, environmental damage, and effects on creativity and critical thinking. Crucially, AI is not something kids are demanding the way they demand iPhones or Snapchat. The researchers conclude that young people have more to teach adults about AI than is commonly assumed. The same newsletter issue also covers Japanese scientists creating female clones of male mice via CRISPR Y-chromosome removal, an analysis of this summer's record heat and why 2027 may be worse, and a piece on the 'censorship-industrial complex' theory shaping US tech policy. The AI survey is qualitative with no specified sample size or methodology.