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Millennials and Gen Z constitute most technology users, making them key stakeholders in the digital economy.
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Our youth should be upskilled in critical areas and recognised as responsible stewards and designers of future technology.
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Through programmes like AI4ALL, high school students examined inequalities, enhanced the criminal justice system, and improved patient outcomes.
Today, more than half of the world’s population is under 30 years old, representing a generation of the most connected, educated, and integrated youths in history. The Global Shapers Community of the World Economic Forum recognises young people as critical stakeholders in shaping and delivering a sustainable, equitable and resilient future.
Rethinking the past, present, and future
Concurrently, with artificial intelligence at the helm of what has been named the Fourth Industrial Revolution, technological change is shaping and re-shaping the world around us with unprecedented velocity, scope, and systems impact. Thought leaders are drawing similarities between today’s overall state of flux – be it political, societal, or economic – and prior periods in history. Some have been doing so by putting these changes in the context of revolving generational patterns and archetypes.
Moreover, pundits are acknowledging the rising call for understanding the present – and today’s Global North and Global South dynamics – through the lens of colonialism and explaining the root causes of the climate crisis by citing the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s sixth and most recent report. Correspondingly, these calls have also become part of the artificial intelligence discourse, as seen in the movement to decolonize AI, for example. These discussions identify capitalism as the original motive for colonial practices and draw parallels to today’s technological scene, which, in turn, yields to the growing conversation about rethinking our economic paradigms and models.