Youth in the Age of AI: Examining the Role of Digitalization in Shaping Daily Life

Abstract

In today’s rapidly advancing digital landscape, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has emerged as a transformative force, significantly influencing multiple sectors and profoundly impacting youth how isthe most dynamic segment of society. This study investigates the integration of AI into the daily lives of young people, focusing on its usage in education, banking, social media, entertainment and marketing. The findings indicate a moderate to high level of AI engagement among youth. However, AI usage remains relatively limited in specialized areas such as risk management, personal assistance and automotive technology highlighting gaps in awareness, accessibility and utilization. The study emphasizes the importance of promoting responsible and balanced AI adoption through enhanced digital literacy, targeted skill development and sector-specific AI initiatives. By fostering critical thinking and empowering youth with the necessary skills, AI can serve as a catalyst for productivity, innovation and sustainable development. The study concludes that, in the digital era, AI-driven automation threatens jobs, making skill enhancement crucial. Prioritizing digital literacy for youth can bridge the unemployment gap. Empowering them with tech skills ensures adaptability, fostering a future where AI complements human potential.

Introduction

In the digital era, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming every aspect of human life—reshaping industries like trade, healthcare, education, and communication. While AI is now deeply embedded in daily activities (e.g., virtual assistants, OCR), understanding of the underlying technology remains limited among the general population. Governments are addressing this gap through digital literacy and inclusive development initiatives.

Key Concepts:

• AI Defined: AI mimics human intelligence by enabling machines to learn, decide, and adapt. It uses advanced techniques like machine learning and neural networks to solve real-world problems.

• Importance of AI Education: Early exposure helps develop critical thinking, adaptability, and ethical awareness. India, with the largest youth population, has immense potential for AI-driven innovation and national development.

Historical Context:

• AI's philosophical roots date back to ancient Greece.

• The term "Artificial Intelligence" was coined at the 1956 Dartmouth Conference by John McCarthy.

• Modern AI is a key driver in sectors such as education, e-commerce, banking, and automation.

Study Focus: AI Usage Among Youth in Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh

Objective:

To explore how youth (aged 18–29) in Jhansi interact with and depend on AI in various aspects of life.

Methodology:

• Sample Size: 100 respondents

• Age Groups: 18–21, 22–25, and 26–29

• Sampling: Simple Random Sampling

• Data Collection: Structured questionnaire

• Analysis Tool: SPSS 2016

Key Findings:

1. Time Spent on AI (Daily Use):

• Medium usage (4–6 hours) is the most common across all age groups.

• AI engagement is high, especially among the 18–21 age group.

2. AI Usage by Sector:

The study assessed adoption of AI across 20 fields. Some highlights include:

• High Adoption:

  • Education Content (100%)

  • Banking & Finance (71%)

  • Travelling/Navigation (72%)

  • Personalized Marketing (78%)

  • Image Recognition (73%)

  • Social Media Algorithms (67%)

• Moderate Adoption:

  • Entertainment (60%)

  • Healthcare (59%)

  • Chatbots (55%)

  • Transport Booking (51%)

• Low Adoption:

  • Personal Assistance (15%)

  • Risk Management (6%)

  • Automatic Cars (9%)

• Mean Scores: Lower mean values (closer to 1.00) indicate higher adoption. Fields like Education, Banking, and Shopping had the lowest means, signifying frequent use.

Conclusion

Findings of the study reveal that, there is atrend of consistent and active engagement with AI among the respondents. Across all age groups, there is a strong preference for moderate to high usage of AI in daily activities. Although younger age groups 18-25 years exhibit slightly higher engagement, the pattern indicates a steady rise in AI adoption across all categories. This reflects the growing integration of AI technology into the daily lives of individuals, especially among youth and young adults.AI adoption is significantly higher in commonly used and accessible sectors such as education, marketing, banking, social media and entertainment, where integration of AI has led to increased user engagement. In contrast, AI usage is comparatively limited in specializedareas like risk management, personal assistance and automobile technology, indicating a gap in awareness, accessibility or perceived need. Promote responsible and balanced AI usage through awareness programs, enhance digital literacy with age and specialized sector focused AI training and workshops, encourage productive use of AI for learning and skill development, regularly monitor AI usage patterns to prevent over-dependence, develop age-specific AI applications to meet diverse user needs, Encourage Development of User-Friendly AI Applications by Simplify and improve AI tools in underutilized sectors to make them more accessible and appealing to the general public. In the digital era, our increasing dependence on digitalization and AI raises concerns about job displacement. Some studies suggest that AI may replace human roles, leading to structural and frictional unemployment. To mitigate this threat, it is crucial to focus on skill enhancement and up-skilling for youth in both rural and urban areas.To bridge the unemployment gap, rapid digital literacy initiatives must be prioritized in which education plays a key role. This is especially important for rural youth, who face greater challenges in accessing opportunities. Since our economy is still largely rural, empowering young people with digital skills will ensure they remain competitive and adaptable in the evolving job market.By fostering a balance between digitalization, AI, and human capabilities, we can create a future where technology complements human potential rather than replacing it.

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Copyright

Copyright © 2025 Ms. Shristi Verma, Dr. Ankita Jasmine Lall. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.