Podcast ¦ Informing Choices: Generation Beta – The Kids from the Future with Alex Whittington and Joana Lenkova

Key Take Aways

1. Generation Beta (Gen Beta) refers to those born from 2025 to 2039, a cohort expected to inherit a world shaped by technological and environmental challenges.
2. Gen Beta is characterised by being AI native, with significant familiarity with advanced digital technologies from birth.
3. Their environment will be shaped by polarisation, uncertainty, and rapid transitions, influencing their worldview and behaviours.
4. The personas representing Gen Beta include diverse archetypes, each illustrating different potential future realities and societal roles.
5. The ‘Smart City Kid’ is embedded in data-driven, participatory urban environments, highlighting active civic engagement and technological integration.
6. ‘Neo-Indigenous Hippie Kids’ exemplify collective action towards climate resilience and environmental economics, reflecting a future valuing indigenous knowledge and sustainability.
7. ‘Unschoolers’ are children pursuing personalised, AI-supported education, emphasising self-directed learning aligned with societal needs.
8. ‘Solutionists’ focus on conflict resolution and innovation under resource scarcity, representing a shift towards community-driven problem solving.
9. The ‘Outer Space Kids’ explore future human reproduction beyond Earth, raising ethical and identity questions in colonisation scenarios.
10. ‘Ghost Workers’ depict a darker future of digital exploitation, with vulnerable labour forces in invisible economic roles, highlighting ethical challenges.
11. The personas highlight both the promise of technological progress and the risks associated with systemic inequities, emphasising the need for proactive policy and ethical frameworks.
12. Reflecting on the past is crucial; these scenarios serve as tools to inform current decision-making to avoid repeating historical pitfalls in societal and environmental domains.

Key Statistics

• Generation Beta to be born from January 2025 to 2039, yet this demography “yet to be born”.
• Indigenous peoples inhabit 5% of the planet but preserve 85% of the bio-environment.
• Climate change is estimated to cost children up to one million dollars during their lifetime, based on recent studies.

Key Discussion Points

• The importance of understanding generational differences through the lens of collective zeitgeist and societal mood.
• How technological advancements, especially AI, are fundamentally altering childhood and societal participation.
• The role of storytelling centred on human characters and tensions to make future scenarios compelling and relatable.
• The significance of cultural and subcultural diversity in shaping future societies and identities.
• The potential for youth voices to co-create their childhood and influence future policies.
• The intersection of technology, environment, and human development, raising questions on how to prioritise human-centric narratives.
• The risk of systemic inequalities, exemplified by scenarios like digital sweatshops and exploitative worker conditions.
• The necessity of learning from history—particularly past social and labour movements—to guide future choices.
• The importance of balancing radical innovation with familiar societal values to navigate future challenges.
• The role of personas in illustrating possible future realities, both optimistic and dark, to guide decision-making.
• Ethical considerations around human, AI, and environmental coexistence, especially in extreme scenarios like space colonisation.
• The value of forward-looking scenarios in helping leaders make informed, responsible decisions today.

Podcast Description

This podcast investigates the emerging future of humanity through the perspectives of futurists Alex Whittington and Joanna Lenkover, focusing on the novel cohort of Generation Beta. It explores six distinct personas representing potential future archetypes of children and young people, highlighting technological, environmental, and societal influences. The discussion emphasises the importance of understanding these personas to anticipate opportunities, risks, and ethical challenges faced by future generations. It also underscores the need for proactive, informed decision-making to shape a sustainable and inclusive future.