first up

Welcome back! This week, we’re talking about how Gen Zers can use generative AI to their advantage.

All those fears that generative AI (gen AI) is going to put people out of work may be overblown—at least for the time being. New research from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology says that so far, it’s still more cost-effective for companies to choose humans over gen-AI-powered technology. That’s great news for entry-level workers (hi, Z babies!), since it means their jobs likely won’t be at risk anytime soon, and it gives Gen Zers more time to learn gen AI skills (more on this later).

Nevertheless, the gen AI revolution is under way. Since we last covered gen AI in this newsletter, in early 2023, it feels like a lifetime’s worth of progress in the technology has been made. A McKinsey analysis estimates that gen AI could add between $2.6 trillion and $4.4 trillion annually to the global economy. By comparison, the United Kingdom’s GDP is around $3 trillion. Big digits, innit?

Given the scale of the opportunity behind gen AI, academic institutions, governments, and companies across industries are exploring ways to integrate the tech into their work. In consumer marketing, gen AI is helping businesses conduct hyperlocal outreach to target customers; banks are using gen AI to help wealth managers answer questions using internal knowledge bases; and in healthcare, doctors are using gen-AI-backed tools to reduce their administrative work and provide better care to patients.

Although changes surrounding gen AI in the workplace will ultimately be decided by senior leadership, these decisions will almost certainly affect Gen Zers. These workers are the ones most likely to be in entry-level or middle-manager roles and thus performing some of the work (including more routine tasks such as data collection or basic data processing) that will be augmented in the near term with gen AI, if it hasn’t been already. That means Gen Zers should learn how to use gen AI platforms to make themselves more valuable to their organizations. (Looking for a change? Gen AI can also help with prepping for a new job).

As with any new technology, there are warning signs along with the upsides. If organizations aren’t careful, gen AI could fracture workplace mentorship and apprenticeship, which are critical to Gen Z’s career development. Consider the following scenario, which McKinsey senior partner Dana Maor and coauthors outline in a recent article:

“Imagine a marketing leader uses a gen AI application to write a creative brief that previously would have been developed by a more junior marketing associate. What will happen to the development and mentorship opportunities for both the leader and associate when the learning process is disintermediated by gen AI?”

That said, gen AI tools can, when used thoughtfully, be a boon to mentorship. Gen-AI-powered training platforms could help bring new hires up to speed more efficiently if leaders engage in the training process (leaders could use gen-AI-powered apps to create training modules and to track their employees’ progress, for example). Gen AI applications could also help companies match Gen Z employees with mentors best suited for them.

Gen Z   Gen AI
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  Getting the job done.

VISUALIZE IT

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CROSSWORD

— Edited by Alexandra Mondalek, editor, New York