Opening Statement on AI & Youth @ Generation Connect
Recently, I was invited to speak at the ITU Generation Connect Global Youth Summit held at the Intare Conference Arena, in Kigali, Rwanda. I joined the conference virtually to provide an opening statement for the “Youth and Artificial Intelligence: Designing our Possible Futures” session, where I read an excerpt from a short story I published in a 2020 anthology in collaboration with UNICEF and The Lancet and Financial Times Commission on Governing Health Futures 2030. At the session, I read an excerpt from the story, then read the following opening statement, which I thought discussed some interesting points. So interesting that I’ve decided to publish it below.
I wrote this short story, titled "SelfCare," back in 2020, after a lengthy virtual discussion with secondary-school-age youth from Nigeria and Sierra Leone. The story follows a young couple trying to fix the healthcare system in an African city using a biosensing tattoo that collects real-time health data, backed by an AI that points them to various healthcare solutions, ranging from medical doctors to trained local herbalists to certified home remedies. The couple and their app don't always get things right, technologically and otherwise. But the most important thing, the story suggests, is that regardless of their ideas being labeled as disruptive wishful thinking, they keep their vision, keep trying to be heard.
I modeled this young couple after the youths I sat with in that Zoom room. The stories they told me of their parents, family members, and friends being hurt by failures in healthcare systems; of the less-than-desirable treatment they received at hospitals; of what exactly they wished would be better about healthcare. This couple was simply them in the future, trying to do something about it so that their next generation wouldn't have to tell the same stories.
Often, when we think about the future, we think of technological advancements. But the more I listened to these young people speak, the more I realized the challenges were beyond technology. Cultural, political and ethical considerations weigh just as heavily, especially in African locales. Whatever the problem, a technology-only solution is often a mere balm. To heal the actual wound would require digging much deeper.
In building solutions for this future generation, I've learned that starting with their voices being heard--just like this story does--is a solid first step. It is inevitable that these solutions--for a digital age and a digital native population--will largely inculcate AI and other digital tools. But whether for healthcare, climate change or economic policies, these tools themselves are not the solution. They are just that--tools. The solutions lie in the voices of youth, and the golden ideas--however disruptive--that lie within them.
