Why Parents of Teens Are 'Very Concerned' About the Future of AI

If you’re the parent of a teen who is thinking about college, it’s likely you’re already wondering: Will your kid be employable after they graduate?

And the proliferation of AI is probably a big part of your concern, according to a new national survey of 618 parents or guardians of U.S. high school students from the College Guidance Network, a virtual counseling tool, which found parents are worried about AI’s effect on their young adult’s future employability.

More than half of respondents, in fact, said they feel “very concerned” or “somewhat concerned” about the AI impact on their teen’s future job prospects. A whopping 89% of parents expressed concern about traditional jobs existing at all in five years. And while there is some hopefulness — 44.1% believe that AI will create as many new jobs for grads as it eliminates — 52% of the parents believe there will be fewer options in the job market in five years.

When asked “What three words best capture how you feel about the AI-driven future your teen will be entering into?” anxiety dominated, as the top five feelings were: “uncertain/uncertainty,” “worried/worrisome,” “concerned/concern,” and “cautious,” while a ray of hope in the form of “hopeful” was in slot No. 5.

More than half of teens already use AI for schoolwork while three in 10 use AI chatbots daily, according to recent data from Pew Research, while the College Guidance Network found 43% of teens were using AI daily. Still, parents mostly described the AI attitude of their teens as “uncertain” and “cautious” more than anything else — though some were “optimistic” and “excited.”

Almost all respondents felt it was important for colleges to teach students how to understand and work alongside AI, with 31.2% calling it “essential,” 34.9% saying it’s “very important,” and 27.6% calling it “somewhat important,” with only 6.3% saying AI proficiency in college is not important at all.

So, what does it all mean regarding college and a teen’s future?

Despite beliefs that applications to college — beleaguered by political and economic woes — are dropping, the data says otherwise: “College tuition has become more affordable in recent years. The economic return on a bachelor’s degree has stopped growing but remains near historic highs,” reported Chalkbeat in November. “After a post-pandemic dip, four-year college enrollment has almost fully recovered to near-record levels.” 

Still, “the rising cost of college and the uncertainty of the future of traditional jobs have caused families to evaluate all the options,” notes the report. “When asked what alternatives they might pursue if traditional college pathways, parents demonstrated openness to other routes.”

The leading alternative was a low-cost community college with career and technical training courses (49.4%), followed by apprenticeship programs and direct to workforce, which “are increasingly being seen as viable options, especially if they could offer faster entry into stable employment in an uncertain time.”

This does not signal the end of college as the predominant pathway after high school, but it does suggest that families are diversifying their mental models of value, and how they define success. The future may be less about a single “right path” and more about flexible options and ability to adapt. Families may be looking to reduce their financial risk while increasing student future employability.