The Last Generation: AI’s Growing Impact. What does this mean for Generations to Come?

By Atzin Anguiano

AI disclosure: AI was used to help organize as well as format thoughts and ideas. All Photos and Videos are AI generated through different AI mediums. All research, Image directions and writing were done by author.

Art generated by ChatGPT | Art directions by Atzin Anguiano

Artificial Intelligence, more commonly known as AI, integrates itself more into the world each passing day. AI can be found in everyday life, whether it’s social media, apps, academic, creative, or other fields.

AI advances and learns from its past programming, ensuring it becomes more efficient and can provide more accurate results that the user is asking for. As a result, content produced by AI constantly tests peoples’ skills to identify whether what is being presented to us is real or fake. In a world where everything is being consumed by AI, what does this mean for the generations to come?

With AI advancing and adapting at an abnormally quick speed, it leaves many people with concerns about what this could mean for the future. Many people worry about the environmental damage AI will have on our ecosystem as well as its current increasing presence in the job market and work.

AI’s Infiltration in the Job Market

Recently, the job market has been an increasingly difficult threshold to break into and many seekers are left struggling to even secure interviews.

In recent years, with new adaptations of technology and experience being a need for employers, newly graduated students are being left behind. A Graduate Employability report provided by Cengage found that 2 million global students graduated with a bachelor’s degree in 2025; However only 30% of those 2 million found full-time employment in their field of study.

Within the report, there is concern about employers using knowledge with AI as a skill requirement for employment. Within the same study, only 51% of graduates said they feel prepared with AI skills when applying for jobs.

With low numbers of entry-level jobs postings, the theory that AI “taking jobs” is a concern for students. In an interview on CNBC, Nich Tremper, a senior economist at Gusto, mentioned AI as a potential cause of companies pulling back on hiring.

“AI is another reason why businesses have pulled back on hiring,” Tremper explained. “The technology isn’t necessarily replacing human workers en masse, but it’s allowing businesses to hire more slowly as they evaluate the best place to add new employees.”

Art generated by ChatGPT | Art Directions by Atzin Anguiano

Gen Z’s Concerns on AI and Work

Instead of companies hiring graduates to do entry-level work, employers may feel more inclined to save the cost of hiring someone by having AI fill in those gaps. In an article written by Linked in Editor Taylor Borden, research was conducted on how the younger generation lack confidence in comparison to older generations with AI advancements in work fields.

The study reported that nearly half of U.S. employees agree that using new AI tools makes them more efficient at work and feel it will help them grow in their careers. However, in comparison to this, it is noted that only 45% of those employees say they feel supported in gaining AI skills and knowledge.

This shows that there are a lot of issues and concerns that an AI-fueled workforce brings up. It will ultimately impact the next generations more heavily than it already does Gen Z. With new advances that AI makes daily, it is a fear embedded in the younger generations, experts say.

Randstad CEO Sander van’t Noordende has said that employees’ recognition that companies are under pressure to “save costs and increase efficiency,” acknowledging the dynamic that makes AI within the workforce as both a positive and negative factor. AI is as much a threat to newer generations who struggle to adjust to it, as it is an opportunity for those confident enough to adapt to it.

Suggestions on how to better adapt AI within the workplace responsibly is approached by the UNRIC–United Nations:Regional Information Centre, in an interview with Janine Berg. Janine within the interview emphasizes the importance of integrating technology through social dialogue between employers and workers. Janine states, “changes can occur through formal settings or informally, in workplaces with a high degree of employee engagement, such as organizations that support teamwork, problem-solving and decentralized decision-making.”

While the usage of AI is something that is causing concern for graduates, mostly in the form of fear that AI is taking jobs away from humans who need them. It is noted in the Graduate Employability Report, that 79% of educators believe it is important for students to have AI skills.

In comparison to that, it is noted that only 37% of educators who believe students should be skilled in AI also believe it is their responsibility to teach those AI skills. This clear distinction between the importance of knowing and learning skills and wanting to teach it, is yet another obstacle students face after graduation.

Incorporating classes that teach students AI skills, helps graduates feel they are being provided with the support and skills to set them for a positive experience in an AI-fueled world.

Furthermore, this will help students who have a harder time applying to jobs due to lack of AI skills get a foot in the door which will create better opportunities post college.

Art generated by ChatGPT | Art directions by Atzin Anguiano

Journalism impacted by AI

AI not only continues to create worries for Gen Z in the job market, but it also causes concerns for Journalists as it challenges their field of work. Journalism is the biggest branch for news outlets, as without journalists working to research what’s happening in the world, consumers who rely on journalism would have no reliable news.

Katrina Pham, an Audience Engagement Reporter for Borderless Magazine, talked about both the positive and negative aspects of AI in journalism. As an audience engagement reporter who interacts with people involved in her reporting, she has expressed usage of transcription tools and translation tools that incorporate AI. She explained the importance of doing research on privacy regulations when using an AI app for anonymous interviews.

“I’m very cautious of about where I’m putting interview files because sometimes in interviews and transcription services, they’re going to talk to me about personal stuff, they’ll say names, maybe I’ll say their names during the interview and there’s a risk of that information being taken or used in another way,” she said. “There are tools that we use that use AI. We have to understand what their privacy regulations are. For us, we work with a lot of vulnerable sources, we have to be mindful of that.”

Pham, who will often use translation tools when she interviews people who would prefer to speak in their own language. AI translation and transcription tools help her connect with the people she interviews to truly document the raw and personal side of her audience. However, she highlights the problems she encounters with the AI tools while she conducts interviews.

“I do a lot of immigration reporting, and there are times when people want to speak in their own language, and so I’ll use transcription and translation tools,” she said. “And sometimes, they [AI tools] will mistranslate my questions or get translated or transcribe the interview file wrong. We have to be careful with that too.”

As concerns for the future of journalism and the usage of AI-generated content to real-life issues occurring in recent events came about, Pham explained the importance between having a connection as a reporter to their audience.

“AI will test us. Journalism is already experiencing a struggle with trust. The whole idea of journalism is that you trust someone to tell you the truth and to be ethical and diligent about their reporting,” she said.

“We’ve been questioned about journalism and our ethics and whether or not we’re telling the truth. I think AI with its increase in amount of information people are getting at one time and how many people they’re getting it from, it’ll be even harder to break through that noise as a journalist and to secure and build trust.”

The idea of trust is something that AI continuously challenges Journalists on. With new technology able to create realistic videos and photos based on real content that is currently occurring with the world, trust is becoming harder for journalists to maintain with their audiences.

“We already have a trust problem and as AI continues to flood peoples’ feeds, it’ll continue to test journalists’ ability to continue holding that trust.”

Art generated by ChatGPT | Art directions by Atzin Anguiano

AI’s increasing Negative Impact on the Environment

AI is growing, and its impacts hit much harder than Journalism and job markets. AI holds an impact on the environment as usage of any AI based program requires real water, electricity and minerals.

According to research by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) AI usage produces electronic waste, consumes large amounts of water, and relies on critical minerals and elements which have become hard to find. Furthermore, the impact it currently has, which negatively affects the generations to come, as these issues are not quick turnaround solutions.

Within the research, a report conducted by the International Energy Agency states that using AI-based programs as virtual assistance consumes 10 times more energy than a traditional Google search. As further information comes about, it is stated that by 2026 AI could rise to see data centers for nearly 35 percent of the country’s energy.

Furthermore, water consumption has been an increasing concern for many people who worry about AIs impact on the environment in which the water is consumed from. With many locations in the U.S already experiencing droughts, it is important to set limitations and transparency on how and who uses AI.

Future of AI

With AIs growing advancements, it is important to not diminish or fear it, but to learn to adapt alongside it. AI, like much of the technology the world has learned to adapt to such as phones, computers and the internet, is something that will be alongside us long-term. If the world continues to fear AI instead of embracing it responsibly, then risks of being left behind take place.

It is important to maintain a responsible mindset and reasonable usage of artificial intelligence in order to protect ecosystems that are affected by AIs negative impacts. In addition, using AI responsibly to prevent the spread of misinformation creates trust and builds support within the community.

While AI advances and appears as a threat, there are many things it cannot do. It cannot replace Journalists, who interact with people to better understand and connect with the community. AI cannot replace natural ecosystems and animals that thrive through the protection of the people. AI cannot replace real human experience.

Will you use AI responsibly?