I often look to my kids as a source of both inspiration, as well as a glimpse of what the future might possibly look like.  I am drawn into their interests, their lingo, the music they listen to, the content they digest, the fashion, etc, etc, etc.  I will catch myself in times of judgment at whatever they’re getting up to in the moment, particularly when it comes to technology…most notably their interactions with AI.  Friends and I have had a number of conversations recently – questioning so many things about what lays ahead for the future generations who ‘rely on AI and don’t know how to think for themselves’, or who ‘don’t know how to properly research because AI just does it for them’.  I then quickly try to remind myself that I am more than certain my parents and their whole generation questioned the same thing about us when they started to notice we don’t use the library any more.  And while I could likely spend the next several paragraphs waxing poetic about the pros and cons of AI, that’s actually not what this is about, or at least not where I intended to start.

This past weekend something dawned on me that, for whatever reason, took almost 17 years to sink in.  My own kids certainly are constant sources of inspiration, and I love watching them grow, but after hosting a family picnic it suddenly hit me that my nieces and nephew – these four kids, who have been part of my life for so long, and whom I’ve shared so many family get together’s before –  are a bright light of what I think is in store for my own girls’ future.

Not to suggest that I haven’t taken note of their interests or stories in the past, but something about this visit changed how I digested, or perhaps interpreted what was being shared.  To start with the oldest of the crew, who is just days away from getting her driver’s license and finalizing her thoughts around university applications, also shared with us that she has started her own Etsy store (check it out here!), is working on a publishing a novel, and shared her picture book memories of a recent trip to Paris, France.  In a very precise instant, the memories of my niece being the first baby I ever held to suddenly being this entrepreneurial, multi-cultured,  literary crafts-person flashed before my eyes.  I felt proud, honoured, encouraged and grateful; not just because she is my family, but because she suddenly represented something I feared I may have given up on – she is a part of the generation that has faced and different level of technology, social interactions, pandemic-induced lifestyle changes, and here she is standing in front of me showing me the accomplishments she has literally put pen to paper to achieve.

My nephew – the kindest, sweetest, most care-giving child I have known; one who is renowned for his back massages, non-stop sense of humour, and fantastical story telling,  is suddenly as tall me (is not taller), and could bench press car if he needed to.  In memories that seem like only yesterday, he was learning to throw a baseball in my backyard, and now he is first string for the rep Waterloo football team.  Yet for all the athletics and workouts he might do, he is still the same gentle person with a sharp wit that I’ve always known.  He devours books, looks out for and is proud of his siblings, engages in genuine conversation, and is rightfully proud of the person he continues to grow into.  He’s definitely not taller than me, though.

My two other nieces are no less remarkable in how they have grown into caring curious humans.  At once outgoing and sure of who they are, this past visit had me taking note of how appreciative they are of the people and spaces around them.  At multiple times and throughout various conversation, there were words of gratitude, appreciation, recognition and genuine interest as they engaged in discussion without the use of a device or single distraction in their hands.  In fact, for the entire time we had family over, I was the only who actually took out their phone, and that was only to cue up the playlist or take pictures for the family calendar.

It’s probably in part due to the fact that I am with my kids everyday, and so I don’t so easily notice how they’ve grown taller, or taken on physical mannerism and traits that others would be quick to point out after a stint of not seeing them.  This is precisely what transpired this weekend, only instead of observing how they’ve grown taller, I took in and appreciated (on the tails of so many AI and ‘the future is crap’ conversations) how they have grown and matured wiser.  Yes, our future will look different than it does today, just as the future has looked different for every generation that has come before.  But if these wonderful kids -nay, young adults – that I get to call family, are any indication of what’s in store down the road, then I am encouraged, not worried.

I think for my peers, and perhaps even the generation above us, the thing we may need to remember is that, while we’re a little scared, skeptical, or put off by advancements and behaviours of the next wave of pioneers to grow up, we’re also mostly native to how it all works.  Though much of this stuff is probably new to them as well, the next generation is far more immersed in its use-cases and learning how and when to use it; I mean that from it’s practical and responsible use sense, just as much as I mean that from an etiquette perspective.   While I think I’m hesitant and apprehensive for my kids to have devices, they aren’t the ones who are bringing their iPad to the table, into the bedrooms or checking messages while trying to engage in other activity.  They are the ones who already seem far more attuned in how to care for themselves, others and are far more conscious of our environment than we seem to be.  I sense a higher level of emotional intelligence, for the self and for others, and perhaps my view is narrowed and skewed by who I choose to spend my time with, but then again, perhaps, if approached correctly, they will be the ones to better understand how phones, devices, AI, apps, ‘whatever’ are useful tools and not replacements for social and emotional human connection.