Editor’s note: Created with youth consultancy Livity, Google’s 2026 report explores how teenagers across the UK are navigating the digital world, from using artificial intelligence to finding balance online. In a guest series, we invite experts – from children’s safety to digital rights – to share what they think the report says about the future of digital policy, covering everything from parental support to the need for better regulatory safeguards. The views of these experts do not necessarily reflect the views of Google. We are happy to share their insights.
Too often, discussions of artificial intelligence are framed as if the future is something that will simply happen to the next generation. Tech companies will build it, governments will regulate it, and young people will adapt to the consequences.
Yet the conversations we had working with Livity and Google as part of this project revealed a different perspective. Young people don’t ask if AI is coming; they already know it is. The questions they ask are more fundamental: How do we choose to use new technologies, and who will take the plunge?
Throughout our events, young people spoke with remarkable thoughtfulness about both the opportunities and risks posed by new technologies. They are already using artificial intelligence to learn, create and solve problems, while demonstrating a clear awareness of the challenges posed by misinformation, manipulated content and declining trust in online information.
At a time when AI can shape public debate, influence political narratives and blur the lines between fact and fiction, these are not just technological issues. They are questions of democracy, accountability and trust.
What stood out the most was that young people sought a more ambitious response than simply being protected from the future. They want to help shape it.
The Future Report reflects a generation that is engaged, informed and ready to contribute. Young people don’t seek a seat at the table because they think they have all the answers. They ask to be involved because they recognize that the decisions made today about artificial intelligence, digital platforms and information ecosystems will have profound consequences for their lives now and in the future.
They want to help answer the questions that will define the future: how these technologies will be used, what safeguards must exist, and what values ​​will guide their development.
For My Life My Say, this is perhaps the most important lesson from the report. The future of AI will not be determined by technology alone. It will be shaped by the choices society makes about its design, management and use. If these elections are to build public trust and strengthen our democracy, young people cannot be treated as end users of technology. They must be recognized as stakeholders in the decisions that shape it.
This report shows that young people are ready for that responsibility. The challenge now is whether our institutions, politicians and technology companies are prepared to involve them in creating the answers.