More teens use AI chatbots but many say AI content is cringe

In short: Many teens use AI chatbots, but a sizable group says AI-made content feels embarrassing and they worry about fake media.

What's going on

AI chatbots, like the ones you can talk to for homework help, have become common in the last few years. But new reporting and surveys suggest a growing split in how young people feel about them.

Market research firm YPulse found that 37 percent of US teens ages 13 to 17 cringe when they see AI-made content, like music and videos. More than half said they worry about misinformation and deepfakes. A deepfake is a realistic looking fake video or audio clip, like a forged signature but for someone’s face or voice.

Other polling shows the same contradiction. Pew Research has reported that many teens think AI will be good for them personally, but more than a fourth believe AI will be bad for society over the next 20 years. Teens cited worries like job losses, weaker thinking skills, and environmental impacts.

A communications professor, Melanie Green at the University at Buffalo, told WIRED that this wave of technology is different. She said some kids are turned off by how AI is being promoted by adults and big tech companies. She also said young people feel their generation will live with most of the disruption.

What to watch

Expect more tension in schools and online spaces between using AI as a tool and rejecting AI as a style. Parents and teachers may push for clearer rules, especially around AI-made art, video, and other content that can be hard to trust.

Source: Wired