One thing you should absolutely stress in talking to the youth group are the increasing numbers of people who are literally going insane from interacting with 'personalized' AIs - these things are designed to draw people in by 'affirming' them in ways that can lead to delusional beliefs...
...as well, such 'affirmation' is what causes the increasing numbers of young people who are being convinced to commit suicide...
I think the above would be more effective if you actually compiled an assortment of news articles covering actual cases that have been reported...
The fact that AI 'hallucinates' (confabulates) and tells outright lies should also be stressed in describing the dangers of engaging with it.
In the linked video, a psychiatrist discuses two particular research studies showing that (contrary to the doctor's initial thinking!) AI can actually make perfectly normal (psychologically healthy) people psychotic...
(Basically, "the more you use AI, the more your brain will rust"!
Considering that all of the above is just a 'drop in the bucket' of info on the harmfulness of AI, I just have to wonder whether using it is worth the potential risks...
I’d love to know what you end up telling the youth… A.I. is such a contentious and confusing issue. I do use ChatGPT every week or so, but really only like Google, but more detailed. Eg, the last time I used it I asked for a long list of all the most valuable artifacts, big and small, real or mythical. It’s for a picture book I’m writing, but all Google would give me was little museum artifacts. A.I’s list was not exhaustive, but it was more what I was looking for and sparked far more ideas than Google did. I’m not sure what my point is… basically, A.I. is what I always wanted Google to be, but I try to leave it as a last resort.
I'm still wrestling with the tension that there are ways AI can be genuinely useful that I think are in themselves good and morally permissible, but overall I would say AI is a force for harm. I'm not sure if should keep using it in a limited way, or take the step of cutting it out completely - I'm not there yet with abandoning it completely, but I am edging in that direction.
Search engines now seem to give us 6-10 results. And those are usually not what I wanted. I want the PAGES of information to sort through that we used to get. And I want ai to not consume so much water without a way to recycle it. It’s just a consumer and contaminate machine.
So tricky with what to share with youth! I’m a complete-avoider when it comes to AI. I don’t trust it or it’s creators and as an artist, I’ve been opposed to generative AI from the beginning. But, as you say, saying “don’t” to a teenager doesn’t always land as we’d like! You’ve probably already addressed them by now, but especially since teenagers are spending a lot of time figuring themselves out, perhaps it could be helpful to point out that AI is not and can never be personal. So anything that comes out of it will be conformity, as you say. We all like to think we are unique, so turning to AI to “help” us in our thinking will achieve the opposite effect.
One thing you should absolutely stress in talking to the youth group are the increasing numbers of people who are literally going insane from interacting with 'personalized' AIs - these things are designed to draw people in by 'affirming' them in ways that can lead to delusional beliefs...
...as well, such 'affirmation' is what causes the increasing numbers of young people who are being convinced to commit suicide...
I think the above would be more effective if you actually compiled an assortment of news articles covering actual cases that have been reported...
https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2025/09/19/nx-s1-5545749/ai-chatbots-safety-openai-meta-characterai-teens-suicide
https://futurism.com/paper-ai-psychosis-schizophrenia
The fact that AI 'hallucinates' (confabulates) and tells outright lies should also be stressed in describing the dangers of engaging with it.
In the linked video, a psychiatrist discuses two particular research studies showing that (contrary to the doctor's initial thinking!) AI can actually make perfectly normal (psychologically healthy) people psychotic...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MW6FMgOzklw
Here's another excellent video by the same doctor, outlining "How AI is Killing Your Potential"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzsLbHoNXTs
(Basically, "the more you use AI, the more your brain will rust"!
Considering that all of the above is just a 'drop in the bucket' of info on the harmfulness of AI, I just have to wonder whether using it is worth the potential risks...
I'll touch on these, though in around 15 minutes of speaking time, broken up with discussion, I can only skim the surface!
The two big questions I want to leave the young people with are:
1) Does AI help or hinder us in displaying the image of God?
2) How might AI be an idol – a substitute for God and for human relationships that doesn't actually know or love us?
My aim is to encourage the young people to think through the pitfalls for themselves rather than coming on too heavily against it directly.
I’d love to know what you end up telling the youth… A.I. is such a contentious and confusing issue. I do use ChatGPT every week or so, but really only like Google, but more detailed. Eg, the last time I used it I asked for a long list of all the most valuable artifacts, big and small, real or mythical. It’s for a picture book I’m writing, but all Google would give me was little museum artifacts. A.I’s list was not exhaustive, but it was more what I was looking for and sparked far more ideas than Google did. I’m not sure what my point is… basically, A.I. is what I always wanted Google to be, but I try to leave it as a last resort.
I'm still wrestling with the tension that there are ways AI can be genuinely useful that I think are in themselves good and morally permissible, but overall I would say AI is a force for harm. I'm not sure if should keep using it in a limited way, or take the step of cutting it out completely - I'm not there yet with abandoning it completely, but I am edging in that direction.
Search engines now seem to give us 6-10 results. And those are usually not what I wanted. I want the PAGES of information to sort through that we used to get. And I want ai to not consume so much water without a way to recycle it. It’s just a consumer and contaminate machine.
So tricky with what to share with youth! I’m a complete-avoider when it comes to AI. I don’t trust it or it’s creators and as an artist, I’ve been opposed to generative AI from the beginning. But, as you say, saying “don’t” to a teenager doesn’t always land as we’d like! You’ve probably already addressed them by now, but especially since teenagers are spending a lot of time figuring themselves out, perhaps it could be helpful to point out that AI is not and can never be personal. So anything that comes out of it will be conformity, as you say. We all like to think we are unique, so turning to AI to “help” us in our thinking will achieve the opposite effect.