As the Gen Z continues to become a larger and more significant part of the global workforce and assumes leadership roles, its influence on the development and deployment of AI will only grow. With unique perspectives, ethical considerations and entrepreneurial spirit, the Gen Z will be able to usher in a new era of responsible and transformative AI that benefits mankind. Employers should harness the potential of this talent pool now to fully leverage the power of AI for the future.
Back in the 1600s, Britain’s landed gentry gave gifts of silver spoons when babies were born. Times have changed. Now we have an entire generation that has been born with a spoon of a different sort — a digital spoon.
Gen Z, a generation born between 1997 and 2012, is now pervading and shaping the global workplace. The Gen Zers represent two billion people worldwide, with 70 million working in the US. What makes them unique is that they are the first digital natives; they began using devices and the web before they even entered kindergarten.
The Gen Zers are both fearless and gifted when it comes to designing new ways of applying technology. Once trained in what a technology can do, they have the intuitive fortitude, based on a lifetime of digital experience, to apply tech to a specific use case. Their lifelong familiarity with technology is their digital spoon and a point of empowerment, and employers should be able to make the most of it.
I first understood the power of the digital spoon when we ran a mentorship initiative as part of our TechBee programme. The Gen Zers and other staff with knowledge about advanced technology, including AI and Machine Learning algorithms, spent six months teaching the junior staff on how the technology worked. The staff being mentored were focusing solely on expanding their skills. The tech had nothing to do with their day jobs.
The Gen Zers discovered that each of the nine vendors in the cafeteria stood to lose financially by either overestimating or underestimating how much to prepare as they developed menus based on their best guesses on what would be consumed daily. They applied an AI/ML algorithm to improve the ability of the vendors to make accurate predictions about consumption. They defined parameters such as weather, holidays, festivals, seasons and other miscellaneous predictable variables. These parameters were used as input to an AI/ML algorithm.
The results were impressive. The improved planning capability reduced cafeteria food waste. Additionally, the change improved customer satisfaction and vendor profits. While other employees had been going through lines for years, noticing these same issues and simply accepting them, the Gen Zers used technology to act.
The Gen Z stands uniquely positioned to navigate and shape AI’s technological revolution. While AI impacts nearly everyone, the Gen Zers are more deeply immersed in it than most of us. When they see a problem, they are comfortable turning to AI first for solutions. They eagerly use AI to enhance personal experiences, streamline tasks, augment creativity and unlock possibilities. They were early adopters of ChatGPT, image generators and other services. Their natural affinity for finding use cases and the simultaneous awareness of potential repercussions enable them to leverage the true potential of the technology.
Growing up amid AI-driven innovations, Gen Zers have a heightened awareness and acceptance of the inevitable disruption in every sphere of life in the future. They understand their future is inextricably tied to AI and envision careers in fields such as machine learning and data science. They are in the best position to drive the next wave of AI innovation.
Their intuitive understanding of AI also allows the Gen Z to be natural teachers. Enterprises should recognize this and enable an environment to create a broad awareness of the potential of AI in the workforce through them.
The Gen Z has a sophisticated perspective on AI. They love the power of advanced predictive models but are concerned when decisions are made based on information from models that do not reveal the processes and data used. They are also acutely aware of many other risks, such as privacy concerns, algorithmic bias and the potential displacement of human labour.
In addition, Gen Z is acutely aware of the Digital Divide and the need for upskilling and reskilling for those who weren’t born with a digital spoon. But they don’t want to run away from these challenges. Instead, they are eager to be actively engaged in shaping the responsible and inclusive development and deployment of AI. It is vital to include this important cohort in plans for how to safely adopt AI while innovating at a fast clip.
As the Gen Z continues to become a larger and more significant part of the global workforce and assumes leadership roles, its influence on the development and deployment of AI will only grow. With unique perspectives, ethical considerations and entrepreneurial spirit, the Gen Z will be able to usher in a new era of responsible and transformative AI that benefits mankind. Employers should harness the potential of this talent pool now to fully leverage the power of AI for the future.
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