Our mission
Our mission is to ensure that young people are represented, prepared and protected for the upcoming AI revolution.
We aim to become the leading research organization to discover and amplify youth voices on AI, and to educate and prepare young people for the opportunities and challenges ahead.
35 years ago, Prof. James Hansen, a leading NASA climate scientist, warned Congress about the dangers of manmade global warming. Hansen was “99 percent certain” that the warming observed in the years before was a result of human climate emissions. At the time, no one listened: our elders’ inaction led to the climate crisis that has defined our generation.
Yet, society doesn’t seem to have learned from its mistakes. One would hope that we now know to act early and preemptively, to get ahead of things before they get too bad. But with social media, profits again triumphed over our generation’s interest – undermining the mental health of young people. We founded the Center for Youth and AI because we’re afraid to sleepwalk into another disaster.
We can glimpse a future where AI helps confront our generation’s most pressing problems: inequality, disease, climate change. Yet, right now, society is unprepared for AI systems that’ll transform our education, careers and lives. We want to change that.
About YouthAI
YouthAI is a research and advocacy organization founded by young people, for young people.
The Center for Youth and AI (YouthAI) was inspired by our first-hand experiences tinkering with and marveling at AI systems, conversing and consoling friends and parents about the future, and responding to policymakers’ genuine curiosity about “what young people think.” Previously, we ran an essay contest where thousands of young people presented their solutions to our society’s greatest challenges. Their creativity and imagination inspired hope for our generation's potential to shape AI, perhaps the greatest opportunity and challenge of our time.
RESEARCH
There are so many open questions about AI and young people. What skills will stay valuable in an AI-driven future? (One we often hear, sometimes ironically, with ChatGPT: Do young people even know how to write anymore?) What is the future of social relationships in a world where millions are speaking with AI chatbots? Are today’s young people more hopeful or worried about this pace of change? We aspire to be the center for scientific and accessible answers to these questions and more.
Our goals are to:
Research the expected impact of advanced AI systems on young lives and livelihoods | Understand young people’s feelings around AI expectations, automation and safety |
Synthesize available research in AI safety, automation and social impacts to educate youth | Support those affected who care deeply about today’s young people, such as parents and teachers, on AI |
Advocacy
Many policymakers are either unaware of, or are incentivized to believe that we cannot change the trajectory of AI development. That’s completely understandable – we often feel swept up by the rapid pace of AI progress (and its surrounding conversation) and comforted by the soothsaying of AI developers too. Yet, at YouthAI, we aspire to provide level-headed policy recommendations grounded in youth voices and interests.
We affect change by:
Policymakers directly engaging and responding to our work | Catalyzing young people to act in the future |
Participating in forums to represent youth concerns |
FAQs
Have questions about the Center for Youth and AI? You can find the answers to our most frequently asked questions below. If you can’t find the answer you’re looking for, please get in touch.
What are you currently working on?
Grounded in our mission, we’ve structured our projects to ensure young people are represented, prepared and protected.First, represented. We need to know what young people think. In partnership with YouGov, one of the world’s top polling firms, we’re running a nationally-representative survey of 1000 US teens on their fears, hopes and expectations for AI and the future.
Second, prepared. Inspired by these two fantastic explainers (made with HackClub, a global group of teen hackers), we’re working on two long-form visual projects: 1) “The Young Person's Career Guide in an Age of AI” 2) “You and AI? Imagining the future of human-AI collaboration.
”Third, protected. The only way to avoid getting swept up in the upcoming AI revolution will be to stay ahead of it. We think we’re in the same, high-leverage place with AI that social media was in two decades ago — in collaboration with our partners, we will provide research support for existing policy proposals, and eventually suggest our own.
What is your theory of change?
We expect that many of the key decisions – key legislation, agencies, committees – that will determine the future of AI will be made in the next few years. We hope that policymakers can directly engage with our work, and respond. For example, in response to our survey, they may commission studies on how much existing AI can automate jobs. This will allow them to realize the scale of incoming social change, and regulate accordingly. Our work also allows us to directly participate, and support existing partners, in further representing youth concerns at scale.
Who are your founders?
Jason and Saheb co-founded the Center for Youth and AI.
Jason is also a visiting fellow at the International Centre for Future Generations, and student at UC Berkeley. He previously worked for the United Nations University, leading the writing of the UN’s first published report on AI foundation models.
Saheb is currently a high school student in California. He previously co-founded Pivotal, the world’s largest essay contest on societal challenges, attracting over 5000 participants. He’s also the Vice Chair of Sacramento’s Climate Task Force and an advisor for Project Liberty’s People’s Bid for TikTok.
Expression
of interest
If you’d like to learn more or get involved, please reach out below. We’d love to hear from you.