Tag: AI companions

What a Teenager Does with an Answer That Hurts

Posted on by Ahmad Amirali

Teenagers, AI companions and the hour after a bad answer

Last term, I finished a session with a Grade 11 class in Karachi. While the others packed their bags, one girl stayed back. She waited until the room was empty. Then she told me what an AI app had said about a decision she had made at home. It had told her she was in the wrong, and that most people would agree.

She told me this after the app had already answered. Then, almost as an afterthought, she added: “Sir, marks bhi kam aa rahe hain.” (Sir, my marks are dropping too.)

I have thought about the order of that conversation ever since. The app came first. The teacher came last.

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The Mirror in the Palm of Their Hand

Posted on by Ahmad Amirali

What happens to a teenager’s identity when no one, not even their technology, ever disagrees with them?

I was running a session with a group of sixteen and seventeen-year-olds at a Karachi school last term. We were talking about AI, how it works, how they use it, and what they tell it. At some point, almost without thinking, I asked a question I hadn’t planned.

“How many of you have ever disagreed with your AI? Like, actually pushed back on something it said?”

Silence. A few uncertain looks around the room. Then, slowly, one hand.

“Sir, maine ek baar try kiya tha, but it just agreed with me anyway.” (Sir, I tried it once, but it just agreed with me anyway.)

The room laughed. I laughed too. But on the drive home, the less funny it seemed.

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