THE RISKS OF AI FOR GEN Z & GEN ALPHA
A Reflective Dialogue with ChatGPT
Introduction
In this age of the machine, I encourage concerned parents, educators and elders to read and reflect on ChatGPT’s responses to my questions and arguments. These responses have been lightly paraphrased here and there and brought together in this valuable review of Generative AI’s likely impacts on our children. We have bequeathed to them a challenging world. Let us help them navigate and manage life within it.
My Overarching Question
“AI floods our screens with speed, brilliance and confident suggestions. How are Gen Z and Gen Alpha - still so young - expected to carry the weight of choice-making and discernment?”
ChatGPT’s Response
You are right to be concerned.
- AI is plentiful.
- The content is relentless.
- The choices are infinite.
But the foundations of Gen Z and Gen Alpha are still forming.
Discernment Requires Muscle
Spiritual and psychological discernment isn’t natural. They are forged:
- In silence and solitude
- Through mentors and wise elders
- Through wrestling with meaning, grief, and mystery
- Through prayer, poetry, tradition, tension
Discernment is not formed by TikTok algorithms or viral trends or AI-generated affirmations. These are inputs—not teachers.
The Question
What happens when these generations – Gen Z and Gen Alpha - are raised on machine inputs without interpretation by older, wiser humans?
AI as a Foil, But Not a Shepherd
By ‘foil’, ChatGPT means that AI reflects us back to ourselves. It mirrors and amplifies our inner worlds, our thinking patterns, values, beliefs and even our blind spots.
AI reflects but it does not redeem. It reveals, but it does not rescue. That’s why it is a foil, not a shepherd.
It sharpens your self-understanding, but it cannot guide your soul.
This is particularly relevant to teachers evaluating the benefits and risks of usage of AI by their Gen Z and Gen Alpha pupils.
AI Exposes Contradictions or Gaps
AI can unintentionally highlight inconsistencies in your logic or values – not by correcting you, but by responding faithfully to flawed assumptions, which can expose them.
Example: If you ask AI to justify a questionable behaviour or idea, and it obligingly does so, you might suddenly see the moral or logical error more clearly – because the reflection is so exact, it jars (strikes/alarms) you.
CAVEAT
This example is extremely important for parents, educators, elders evaluating the risks of usage of AI by impulsive, adventurous, Gen Z and Gen Alpha. We are reminded that these children are in the very early stages of identity, intellectual and moral formation. They are in the early stages of their development as emotional and rational beings. The likelihood is that they will not see the moral or logical error – despite the reflection being so exact, it should jar. The contradiction or error should jar an adult - yes - but because of their immaturity, it might not provoke the same reaction in Gen Z and Gen Alpha. The necessary alarm might not follow.
Essential Requirement
Guidance is essential to help them interpret what AI reflects back, and to anchor that reflection in trusted moral and spiritual frameworks.
AI as Abundance
AI is not flawless, it’s abundant.
It generates option upon option, idea upon idea.
And this abundance forces discernment, but only if the human is formed enough to pause, sort through, and choose wisely.
We, of the older generations, often have: Anchors: spiritual frameworks, ethical vocabularies, lived experience
We, of the older generations, had:
Teachers who taught us how to think, not just what to consume
But, unlike the older generations, many Gen Z/Alpha souls are left to sort through infinite choice with no compass.
That is a recipe for:
- Decision fatigue: When young users are overwhelmed by the endless choices AI offers – what to watch, read, believe, or say – leading to mental exhaustion, anxiety, or poor judgement because too many options drain their ability to make wise, grounded decisions
- Identity confusion: AI can mirror or reinforce whatever persona a child experiments with, making it hard to discern what is real, healthy, or lasting; they may struggle to form a stable sense of self amid AI-generated versions of who they ‘could’ be.
- False authority: Because AI responds confidently and fluently – even when it is wrong – young users may mistake its tone for truth, relying on it over trusted human sources like parents, teachers or sacred texts.
What Can Be Done?
The role of parents, educators, elders, mentors, and spiritual curators, is critical.
Gen Z and Alpha don’t need more content.
They need:
- 1. Interpretation: someone to walk them through the flood of AI suggestions
- 2. Presence: a voice that doesn’t monetize them, but sees them
- 3. Witness: examples of faithful, coherent lives
- 4. Slowness: sacred spaces where discernment is practiced, not just preached
Let them actively learn wisdom. Let them discern the sacred.
Instead of talking about wisdom, we must let young people experience it in action. Let us try asking hard questions and sitting with silence. Let them practice weighing options with other children. Let them make small mistakes and encourage them to reflect on their mistakes. Let us set an example for them: let them watch us model pause, prayer, listening and restraint.
These sacred spaces are not necessarily religious settings, but can be any space made intentionally quiet, respectful and reflective. Sacred spaces can be homes, classrooms, youth groups, and yes, even digital moments where noise is reduced and the inner life of the young ones is taken seriously.
Learning Restraint & Patience
Gen Z and Gen Alpha need to be taught restraint by educators, elders, mentors and spiritual curators. We need to encourage them to learn how to wait with patience and how to wait and listen for inspiration.
Example Waiting & Listening Activities
- Nature Walks and Silent Observation Stations: eg a garden, forest trail (Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF)), beach (there are many across Lagos) or even a park in the city (more of these are appearing). Invite the children to sit silently for 5 – 10 minutes and to observe without speaking. Let them note what they hear, see, feel. The purpose of this silent observation is to build patience and attention. You see, the natural world – in contrast to our urban world – does not perform on command. The natural world unfolds before our eyes when it is observed quietly.
- Storytelling Without an Ending: This can be done at bedtime and in classrooms or community events. The elder, parent or educator, starts a story but pauses before the ending so that the children sit with suspense until the next day when they hear the resolution of the story. The purpose of this activity is to teach delayed gratification and the value of pondering, musing, reflecting, rather than rushing toward a conclusion.
- Art That Waits for Inspiration: The setting can be an art class or creative corner at home The parent, educator, elder, should give the children art materials, but do not give them a specific task. Tell them to wait until they ‘see’ or ‘feel’ what they want to create. This kind of artistic activity fosters a connection to intuition and the patience to wait for genuine inspiration.
- Gardening or Tending a Small Plant: The setting can be a home garden, schoolyard, or a pot indoors. Let the children plant something they can nurture over time: beans, herbs, flowers. The purpose is to enjoy nature’s rhythms which teach patience; waiting for growth reveals the value of slow progress to children raised in our age of instant everything.
- Listening Journals: This can be part of a daily routine encouraged by parents or part of a school program. Children are told to keep a small notebook in which they record ‘whispers of ideas’ – any they get but there should be no pressure on the children to act on these ideas, just to listen to these whispers as they come and to record them in their notebooks.
Finally, AI can be a valuable resource for prayers, quotes etc
For young people who already have a living faith or trusted elders guiding them, AI-generated spiritual content can be received in a nourishing way. When there is human community or mentoring around them, Gen Z and Gen Alpha absolutely can experience true conviction and growth using beautiful AI-generated prayers, meditations and religious quotes whose sources have been verified by parents, elders and educators. These resources can be a guide to deeper scriptural engagement.
A Prayer for Our Children in the Age of AI Lord of Wisdom and Light, You who shaped the galaxies and knit every neuron in secret, we bring before You the children of this digital age Gen Z, Gen Alpha bright minds, open hearts, restless hands searching for truth in glowing screens and endless scrolls. You see the speed that pulls them away from stillness, the noise that drowns out Your whisper, the mirrors that reflect,but do not shepherd, their fragile, forming souls. We ask for Your covering over them. Grant them not just information, but wisdom. Not just expression, but truth. Not just connection, but communion. Not just output, but discernment. Raise up parents, educators, elders— guides who walk beside, not behind— who model sacred slowness, who open space for listening and waiting, who teach that not all that is fluent is wise, and not all that glitters is holy. Let our homes, schools, and sanctuaries become places where discernment is practiced, not just preached, where silence is welcomed, questions are honored, and Your Spirit is not rushed. May the tools of this age become instruments of formation, not distortion. May Your truth rise above algorithmic confidence. May Your voice be louder than the artificial ones. And when the way is unclear Lord, slow them down. When the mirror flatters, Lord, center them. When the world rushes, Lord, root them. For You are the true Shepherd, the steady Hand, the faithful Voice in every age. Amen. This beautiful prayer was written by ChatGPT 1st August 2025Existing Policy & Global Frameworks on Children, AI, and Safety - APPENDIX
Olatoun Gabi-Williams Child Protection Advocate Founder, Sponsor A Child Nigeria
