Chatbots are everywhere - helping us study, work, and socialize. But as these AI tools become more common, young people are asking important questions: Can AI chatbots make us too emotionally dependent, or more isolated? Can they compromise our critical thinking skills? Can they expose us to harmful content?

Gen(Z)AI’s first forum brought together 100 representatives to participate in expert briefings, interactive workshops, and deliberative policymaking sessions. The result: young Canadians are dissatisfied with the status quo and support stricter regulation of AI chatbots.

The representatives came up with a series of issue statements highlighting their concerns about AI chatbots, and a set of policy recommendations for the Canadian federal government.

Now, we want to hear from you! Which of the issues are most important to you? How do you feel about the recommendations?

💬 Join the conversation. Your experiences and ideas can help shape safer, more supportive AI for everyone.

Widespread use of AI chatbots risks cognitive offloading and loss of critical thinking skills among users, jeopardizing our ability to learn, work, and engage in civic discourse.

ℹ️ Cognitive offloading means relying on technology to think or remember things for you, instead of using your own brain. If we depend on AI in this way, we could lose important skills for solving problems, understanding information and/or working together towards shared goals.

Your fellow Canadians recommended that the federal government ought to:

Mandate that social media platforms and search engines have explicit and easy-to-navigate opt-out options for integrated AI technologies, and compel platforms to provide users with explanations, in plain- and age-appropriate language, of the implications of either opting in or out of AI integration.

ℹ️ This means: Users should have the choice to use AI features or not, and platforms must clearly explain what happens if they do or don’t use them.

Participants recommended that the federal government ought to:

Establish a funding program to support organizations offering critical AI literacy programming and resources to Canadians, including public consultations and deliberative engagements on AI's impacts that involve intergenerational and diverse groups of Canadians.

ℹ️ This means that the government should invest in organizations that run programs to help Canadians better use and understand AI and provide opportunities for people to discuss and give input on issues that may be related to AI.

We want to understand your experiences with AI chatbots even better. Have you had any positive or negative experiences, especially related to your critical thinking and cognitive skills?

Your stories will be completely anonymous.

So far, we’ve focused on cognitive skills and AI literacy, but other topics may also be important to you - like AI and jobs, bias and discrimination or how AI affects the environment.

What other AI-related topics should be in the spotlight?