Marginalized Youth and the Use of AI

[Dr. Bradley J. Bond] I think that there are benefits and risks involved in AI. I will share that in a recent study conducted with Hope Lab, another kind of nonprofit group doing research in this space, we unexpectedly found that a significant number of marginalized young people are using AI devices for advice or to establish some kind of support network. In this study, it was particularly related to gender identity and young people who identified as trans or nonbinary. And there can be benefits to this, depending on the information that is being shared, but as we know, AI is only as good as the information that is put into it. And I think that we have to do – as academics, we have to do a really deep dive into algorithms and big data to really understand the potential influence. But I do think that young people are using these technologies at a faster rate than I think we as academics are even keeping up with.