“This is the second dystopian Dune reference for me in the last twelve hours,” Ben Dietz noted of chatter about AI and how people are feeling about it — especially young people.
“On TikTok, you’re seeing all the protests in Minneapolis, then getting TikTok shop ads for great fitting gas masks that I can shop for,” our guest Matt Feniger — Marketing Director, Consumer Insights & Brand Strategy, at United Talent Agency — said. “The civil war is being commodified, you know? It felt very dystopian.”
“Everything is dystopian,” Kyle Raymond Fitzpatrick assured them. “It is. It is!”
The articles in question were the viral "AI is going to end everything” article and the idea of the “post-Shumer consumer” that Ed Cotton raised, that people are going to make decisions that lead with safety first. It’s true — and Matt had proof of this, given his work with the UCLA Center for Scholars & Storytellers.
“They do a teen values report every year and, for the second year, their number one value was to be safe,” he said.
“Is that the value they currently hold or that they aspire to?” Ben asked.
“They’re given a set of 14 values that range from to ‘have fun’ to ‘feel seen,’” Matt explained. “Out of all of them to ‘feel safe’ was ranked number one.”
“Another really interesting study done around Gen Z that was talking about how they see risk as binary,” Matt said. “Like very black and white. It’s either: safe — or too risky.”
“There’s less experimentation, there’s less trial and error, there’s less boundary stretching, because the boundary is perceived as being inelastic,” Ben said.
Matt agreed, musing on the young person’s mind. “If the AI fears are — you know — really strong, then…I’m not going to go after the career I thought I was,” he said. “I’m going to maybe go towards a blue collar trade that is more safe and or proof from AI taking my job.”
It’s an interesting time for everyone — and it’s especially interesting for young people too. Listen in on the full conversation now here and on YouTube and Spotify, where we explore everything from recent weather madness to how something like Iron Lung is disrupting Hollywood.
Find more from HIP REPLACEMENT on YouTube, Spotify, and Instagram. Be sure to follow Ben Dietz over on SIC and Kyle Raymond Fitzpatrick over on The Trend Report™ too.
