Backside line: Teenagers and youthful customers have lengthy been thought of probably the most keen early adopters of superior expertise and on-line tendencies. Nevertheless, a latest research means that this may occasionally now not be the case in an period of Huge Tech dominance and an web flooded with AI-generated content material.
Meta, Apple, and different main expertise companies are investing vital quantities of cash to enchantment to teenagers and younger customers. Nevertheless, a research by Frequent Sense Media means that their efforts might in the end be in useless, as a good portion of US teenagers have little religion in Huge Tech’s strategy and the position of AI.
The research explores the connection between teenagers, Huge Tech corporations, and belief in expertise, based mostly on a survey of 1,045 teenagers aged 13 – 18. A considerable majority (64 p.c) of respondents consider that expertise corporations is not going to defend their on-line well-being, whereas 62 p.c don’t suppose Huge Tech will prioritize security over income.
CSM said that the analysis gives essential insights into how youthful customers understand expertise. Mother and father, educators, and policymakers might use these findings to foster a more healthy relationship between teenagers and digital platforms, making certain their security whereas they navigate social media and attention-driven on-line companies.
The research additionally highlights further key findings, similar to vital mistrust (53 p.c) in main tech corporations’ capacity to behave ethically and responsibly when designing new merchandise. A majority of teenagers (52 p.c) don’t consider Huge Tech will preserve their information secure, and an analogous proportion (51 p.c) doubt these corporations will prioritize inclusion and the wants of a various consumer base.
Practically half (47 p.c) of surveyed teenagers additionally consider Huge Tech is not going to make accountable selections about AI and its implementation of their merchandise. Moreover, 39 p.c of US teenagers who’ve used generative AI for schoolwork reported encountering inaccuracies and misinformation, CSM famous.
The analysis gives worthwhile insights into how younger customers understand generative AI. Round 70 p.c of teenagers assist implementing privateness protections and transparency measures in AI companies, whereas 73 p.c need corporations to obviously label or watermark AI-generated content material.
Researchers at CSM argue that teenagers usually are not merely passive observers on this quickly evolving technological panorama. Quite the opposite, they actively navigate the rising unreliability of on-line data and the profit-driven practices of tech companies.
