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Backside line: Teenagers and youthful customers have lengthy been thought of probably the most keen early adopters of superior know-how 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 know-how firms are investing vital quantities of cash to attraction 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 function of AI.
The study explores the connection between teenagers, Huge Tech corporations, and belief in know-how, based mostly on a survey of 1,045 teenagers aged 13 – 18. A considerable majority (64 p.c) of respondents imagine that know-how corporations won’t defend their on-line well-being, whereas 62 p.c don’t suppose Huge Tech will prioritize security over earnings.
CSM said that the analysis gives essential insights into how youthful customers understand know-how. 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 providers.
The research additionally highlights further key findings, corresponding 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 imagine Huge Tech will preserve their knowledge protected, and an analogous share (51 p.c) doubt these corporations will prioritize inclusion and the wants of a various person base.
Practically half (47 p.c) of surveyed teenagers additionally imagine Huge Tech won’t make accountable choices 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 invaluable insights into how younger customers understand generative AI. Round 70 p.c of teenagers help imposing privateness protections and transparency measures in AI providers, whereas 73 p.c need corporations to obviously label or watermark AI-generated content material.
Researchers at CSM argue that teenagers are usually 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 firms.