IF co-founder, Angus Hanton, asked ChatGPT how AI will impact young people in the coming years. This was its full, unedited response.
AI is eating young people
Artificial intelligence is often sold as a neutral force of progress—faster, smarter, more efficient. In the United Kingdom, that story has a sharper edge for young people. AI is not just changing how work gets done; it is reshaping who gets to work, when, and on what terms. And the costs are likely to fall disproportionately on the young.
Fewer entry jobs, fewer ways in
The first bite AI takes is at the bottom of the jobs ladder. Young people rely heavily on entry-level roles to get a foothold: junior analysts, assistants, trainees, customer service staff. These jobs are repetitive by design and exist partly to train people up. They are also exactly the roles most vulnerable to automation.
In the UK, firms adopting AI tools can now automate tasks like scheduling, basic analysis, copywriting, and customer interaction at a fraction of the cost of a junior hire. When budgets tighten, companies are incentivised to skip the “learning phase” of human workers and go straight to software. That means fewer openings for school leavers and graduates—and a harsher competition for those that remain.
The long-term risk is not just unemployment, but missing experience. If fewer young people can get started, fewer will ever reach senior positions later on.
Skills made obsolete before they pay off
Young people are told to “skill up” to stay relevant. But AI is accelerating so quickly that many newly acquired skills are becoming redundant almost as soon as they are learned. Coding, design, data analysis, translation—fields once pitched as safe bets—are now increasingly augmented or replaced by AI systems.
This creates a cruel timing problem. Young workers invest years in education and training, often taking on debt, only to discover that the market value of their skills has collapsed. Older workers, meanwhile, often trained in a pre-AI era and now sit in managerial or strategic roles that are harder to automate. Their value is protected not by technical relevance, but by seniority.
In effect, AI shortens the half-life of skills, and young people—who have the least financial buffer—pay the price.
Reinforcing the power of older generations
AI doesn’t just change work; it reshapes power. Those who already control organisations, capital, and decision-making are best placed to benefit. In the UK, leadership positions in business, politics, and institutions are overwhelmingly held by older generations. AI tools tend to amplify their productivity rather than replace them.
A manager with decades of domain knowledge can now use AI to draft reports, analyse data, and communicate faster than ever. The result is a widening productivity gap within organisations—one that favours experience and authority over potential and growth.
Meanwhile, young people face more surveillance, more algorithmic management, and less bargaining power. Hiring algorithms screen CVs. Performance metrics are automated. Flexibility increasingly flows upward, precarity downward.
A generational bill coming due
The economic consequences compound over time. Fewer jobs mean delayed careers. Delayed careers mean lower lifetime earnings, less savings, and reduced access to housing. In the UK—already grappling with high rents, student debt, and a shrinking welfare state—AI risks locking young people into permanent disadvantage.
This is not inevitable. Policy choices matter: investment in human-centred jobs, stronger labour protections, and education systems that emphasise adaptability rather than narrow technical skills. But without intervention, AI will continue to “eat” opportunities at the start of the pipeline.
The danger is not that young people are unwilling to work or learn. It’s that the economy is quietly deciding it no longer needs them in the same numbers. And that is a cost we will all eventually pay.