Growing Up With AI: Will Future Generations Become More Capable or More Dependent?

A student struggling with mathematics can ask AI for another explanation. A young developer can get help building a first application. Someone with an idea can explore it without knowing every technical step involved.

The same tools can also complete assignments without teaching anything, produce convincing false information, or help someone target another person with abuse.

For coming generations, AI could become a familiar part of education, work, and everyday decisions. But familiarity does not tell us whether its influence will be positive.

AI can expand what young people are able to do. Whether it strengthens their abilities or encourages dependence will also depend on how it is designed, taught, and used.

There is no sound basis for predicting that an entire generation will become helpless, or that everyone will use AI responsibly.

Will future generations rely completely on AI?

Greater reliance is plausible. Complete dependence is not an established outcome.

Children are already encountering AI through recommendation systems, chatbots, and educational applications. UNICEF notes that adoption is uneven and that evidence about long-term social, emotional, and cognitive effects remains incomplete. UNICEF’s research on AI and children

The important question is what people continue to understand and practise while using these tools.

A student who asks for a hint and then solves a problem is developing a different habit from a student who copies the answer. A young programmer who tests and explains generated code is learning differently from someone who accepts it without understanding it.

Using assistance is not automatically a weakness. The concern is losing the ability to judge the assistance or work independently when necessary.

AI can help learning, but finishing homework is not the same as learning

An effective educational tool should help a learner understand more after using it.

AI could provide additional examples, explain unfamiliar terms, generate practice questions, and give feedback on an attempted answer. These uses can make learning more accessible, particularly when a student needs another explanation or a different way into a topic.

However, easy access to complete answers can remove the practice that builds understanding.

A study involving nearly 1,000 high school mathematics students in Turkey found that an unrestricted AI interface improved assisted practice performance but harmed later performance when the tool was unavailable. A tutor designed with learning safeguards largely mitigated that harm. The results concern a particular setting and design, not every student or AI tool. Study published in PNAS

The lesson is practical: judge educational AI by what students can do afterward, including without assistance.

Could AI help the next generation create more inventions?

Yes, it could lower some of the barriers between an idea and an experiment.

Consider a student who wants to reduce water waste at school. AI might help explain sensors, draft simple software, compare design approaches, or organize observations. The student would still need to investigate the actual problem, build and test a prototype, and check whether it works.

This is an illustrative possibility, not a guaranteed result.

Faster access to explanations and prototypes could allow more people to participate in invention. But producing more ideas does not automatically mean producing better solutions.

Useful inventions require evidence. They need to work under real conditions, address a meaningful problem, and avoid creating new problems for the people using them.

Young people will still benefit from subject knowledge, experimentation, collaboration, and the willingness to discover that their first idea was wrong.

Could the same generation use AI to harm others?

Some people will attempt harmful uses. It would be unfair and unsupported to assume that this defines a whole generation.

AI-generated impersonations, fabricated images, deceptive messages, and targeted harassment can cause real damage. A false image shared as a joke can humiliate someone. A convincing impersonation can trick a family member. An invented allegation can spread before anyone checks it.

UNICEF identifies disinformation, harmful deepfakes, and exploitative content among the risks children face as AI becomes more widespread. UNICEF’s overview of opportunities and risks

Young people may be victims, witnesses, or perpetrators. Education therefore needs to cover consent, verification, empathy, and responsibility alongside technical skills.

Being able to generate something does not make sharing it acceptable. “AI made it” does not remove responsibility for choosing to use it against another person.

The outcome depends on more than individual choices

It is tempting to say that AI is simply a tool and everything depends on the user. That explanation is incomplete.

Product design matters. A system that provides answers instantly encourages different behavior from one that asks the learner to attempt a solution first.

School incentives matter. If only the finished assignment receives credit, students have less reason to demonstrate their reasoning.

Business incentives matter too. A product designed to maximize time spent interacting may not prioritize independence or healthy boundaries.

Parents and teachers have responsibilities, but companies and institutions also shape the environment young people grow up in. UNICEF’s guidance calls for safety, privacy, fairness, accountability, and support for children’s development in AI systems. UNICEF’s guidance on AI and children

Human relationships should remain part of growing up

A chatbot can be available when another person is busy. It may offer a useful explanation or a place to organize thoughts.

That availability should not make it the only place a young person turns for advice, reassurance, or companionship.

Friendships, family relationships, classroom discussions, and shared activities involve disagreement, patience, cooperation, and responsibility toward others. These experiences deserve space alongside digital tools.

Long-term effects of AI companions are still being studied. It is more responsible to acknowledge that uncertainty than to claim that every interaction is harmful or that artificial companionship can meet every social need. UNICEF’s updated guidance specifically addresses AI companions used by children. Guidance on AI and children

The benefits may not reach everyone equally

An AI-rich future could also widen existing gaps.

Some students will have reliable devices, strong teachers, and carefully selected tools. Others may have limited connectivity, little guidance, or products that do not support their language well.

Access alone will not solve that difference. Young people also need help assessing answers, protecting personal information, and understanding when a tool is unsuitable.

The aim should be meaningful participation, including for children with disabilities and those in underserved communities. UNICEF’s guidance highlights both accessibility opportunities and the need for inclusion. Child-centred AI recommendations

What habits should we teach now?

A useful starting point is to make thinking visible.

Ask learners to explain their reasoning, identify where AI helped, and show how they checked the result. Encourage them to attempt a task before requesting a complete solution.

Other practical habits include:

• Check important claims against reliable sources.
• Practise foundational skills without AI as well as with it.
• Protect personal information and respect other people’s consent.
• Test generated code, designs, and calculations before relying on them.
• Discuss mistakes openly rather than hiding AI use.
• Keep time for reading, physical activity, creative work, and relationships.

Schools can assess drafts, discussion, practical demonstrations, and problem-solving processes alongside finished work. Product teams can design for learning and independence, with clear reporting options when something goes wrong.

A future that still needs human direction

AI will not give every young person the same opportunities, habits, or intentions. Some will use it to learn and build. Others may overuse it, misunderstand it, or attempt to harm people.

Those outcomes are influenced by choices being made now in homes, schools, businesses, and technology companies.

The goal should be a generation that can use AI effectively, challenge it confidently, and remain responsible for its own decisions. That requires preserving curiosity and independent practice while making room for useful assistance.

At MindShare Solution, responsible technology development means considering what a product helps people become capable of doing over time. An effective AI experience should leave users better informed and better equipped to act.

Building an educational platform or an AI-assisted product? Talk with MindShare Solution about creating experiences that support learning, creativity, and responsible use.