Chloe is 17 years old and a junior at a high school in a city in California. She lives with her parents and one younger brother. In her daily life she uses Siri, Alexa, and online chat support when shopping — and she is the first to admit that AI is still a fairly new concept to her. Her honest uncertainty makes for a refreshingly open conversation about where technology is heading.
Familiar but Still Figuring It Out
For Chloe, AI is something she uses without fully understanding. “I definitely use Siri and Alexa. If I’m shopping online and I need help, I use the little chat box too.” When asked to define AI, she draws a blank: “I’m not really sure — I know it’s kind of like Siri on our phone, but I wouldn’t be able to give an actual definition.” Her main cultural reference point for robots comes from Twitter, where people compare a Black Mirror episode to real-life robots — though she hasn’t watched it herself. Robots, to her, are “the physical version of AI — things that can stand up and do what you ask.”
A Life That Comes to You
In 2050, Chloe wants to be a psychologist or a fashion stylist — and she can already imagine robots helping with both. “We can probably use robots to help create designs and put things together in fashion. I think that would be really cool.” More broadly, she imagines a very comfortable life: “one where everything just kind of comes to me and I can just do things I like with the click of a button.” She sees robots helping most in restaurants and education — specifically grading papers and assisting in stores — without replacing the human judgment that she values.
Where She Draws the Line
Chloe’s clearest position is her discomfort with fully autonomous systems. On self-driving cars: “I personally don’t trust that. If I had a self-driving car, I would not rely on it as my way of transportation. Anything could go wrong — especially if I’m at a school and kids are around.” On hospitals: “Working there, whether you’re a doctor or nurse, your job is really, really important and you’re trying to save people’s lives. It would just be too risky to have a robot in that position.” She supports robots in hiring processes for efficiency, in stores for simple tasks, and in drone delivery — while acknowledging the kinks that would need to be worked out. Political and judicial roles are a firm no: “Those are jobs that actual people need to be in.”
Skeptical but Opening Up
Her overall view of AI starts from skepticism, but shifts with reflection. “I generally think of them as bad things — robots filling human positions is just such a new concept to me. But once I start to think about it more, it starts making a lot more sense.” She prefers AI that is invisible — like Siri or Alexa — over physical robots. “The ones we can physically see, that can move around and do things like humans do, is just very creepy to me.” On shape, she prefers AI that stays digital and out of sight.
Jobs and the Road Ahead
On the future of work, Chloe believes robots could replace some jobs, but that certain roles will always require humans — doctors and surgeons being her clearest example. “It depends on the job, but it’s still necessary to have actual humans doing some jobs.” She doesn’t plan to follow AI developments closely: “I don’t think it’s going to be something I do a bunch of research on, but it’ll definitely be interesting to see how it plays out in our new world.”
