'Brain rot' or more time for friends? Dive into young people's concerns and excitement about AI
In the county hall at Christiansborg, 150 young people gathered for the Youth Summit. The participants came from different backgrounds and had varying levels of knowledge about artificial intelligence (AI), but they had one thing in common: they believe that the technology will have a greater impact on our society every day. Some are excited. We will have personal AI secretaries and efficient AI-based X-ray tools in hospitals to support the technology. But many young people fear that we're just going along for the ride without considering what kind of future we want - and what role AI will play in it.
INVI spoke to a number of participants about both what they are worried and excited about - meet some of them in the video below and read some of their reflections after the video.
AI - more freedom or brain rot on steroids?
William Tange Pfeiffer sees the potential for AI to free up time and give us more space for what really matters.
"I hope that we manage to use AI in a way in the future that gives us more freedom in our everyday lives. If we can harness and use the technology wisely, we can both achieve great technological breakthroughs and free up time for other things," he says.
For him, it's not just about efficiency, but about giving people the opportunity to immerse themselves in the relationships and activities that create value in life.
Ezra Omar, on the other hand, is concerned about how AI can amplify some of the negative consequences we already see on social media.
"Many people are already pretty brainrotted," she says, pointing out how constant exposure to algorithm-driven content can make it harder to concentrate and immerse yourself.
The term brain rot refers to the feeling that one's ability to concentrate has diminished and that one's thinking is characterized by quick, superficial inputs rather than deeper insights.
"What happens when AI really becomes part of that equation?" she asks, pointing to a fear that AI will target content to us individually to a much greater extent in the future, which could engulf us even more in a digital universe of insubstantial content.
The solution to this challenge? According to young people, it's about raising awareness of AI through education and dialog and getting better at identifying AI-generated content when we encounter it.
Workshops, town hall meetings and initiatives such as the Youth Summit can play an important role in educating people to better understand and discuss AI.
"We need to educate Danes more about what AI is, and we need to be more aware of how we use it ourselves and how we can be manipulated by it," says Christoffer Sørensen.
For him, it's about ensuring that people have the knowledge they need to take part in the conversation about AI development and regulation.
