Despite recent efforts to keep AI tools from seeping into the lives of teenagers, young people appear to be increasingly reliant on it — even when it comes to areas typically thought to be their domain.
Like shopping, for example.
According to a recent Mastercard survey, today’s teens are using AI at around twice the rate of their parents to help them make shopping decisions, with one in four (27%) likely to use a fully AI-run shopping assistant that recommends products, chooses between options, and complete purchases. That’s compared to 16% of parents who would do the same.
“By 2030, buying and shopping will no longer mean the same thing,” says lead futurist Magnus Lindkvist inan accompanying report. “AI agents will handle routine buying, leaving shopping as something we choose to do for discovery, inspiration, and pleasure.”
“Every great shift in commerce has been, at heart, a shift in trust.”
Magnus Lindkvist
Mastercard surveyed 26,000 parents and teens (13-18) across 13 countries and found the teens are leading when it comes to using such tools — to the point where artificial intelligence is valued more than that of their peers. A third of teens (31%), in fact, said they would trust an AI’s product recommendation over that of a friend, while one in four (23%) would trust AI over their own parents’ advice.
Teens (18%) are also twice as likely as their parents (10%) to be using AI on a weekly basis for finding the best price or discount.
The findings come in the midst of growing efforts to keep teens and AI separate — including in New York City, which just instituted a ban on AI use in classrooms, and in California, which just strengthened already powerful curbs on social media chatbots.
Still, Mastercard found that parents are not surprised at how AI is becoming integral to shopping — with 67% expecting AI shopping to define their child’s generation and only 5% believing it will define their own.
Finally, it’s not just parents vs. kids on the AI shopping front, but a generational divide — with 14% of younger parents (18-34) using AI on a weekly basis to research products compared to 10% of those who are 55 or older.
“Every great shift in commerce has been, at heart, a shift in trust,” says Lindkvist. “From the marketplace to the mall, to the catalogue, to the click of a button, each historic evolvement of commerce has asked people to place trust somewhere new.” That goes for teens, too, apparently.
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