People are really starting to get angry about AI. I don’t believe this is particularly surprising, but wow, the sentiment decline sure seems to be accelerating.

Over the past couple of months, new studies have been released showcasing that Americans are not trusting AI (76%) and think it’s moving too fast (71%); communities are rallying against data centers ($152 billion across 46 projects was stalled or halted last year); and gen Z’s excitement about AI is tanking (22%). In fact, this spring, college graduates have been booing commencement speakers who tout the AI opportunity.

An Atlantic article this week summed up the mood: too much is happening, too fast. And it asked whether that's actually the whole point. Yikes.

People are rightfully concerned about their lack of say in the AI race - especially because the incentives are not steering the progress in a way that is seemingly looking out for anyone but the companies in charge.

But here’s my pitch, parents:

I believe getting angry to the point of disengaging is a mistake. It puts us on the wrong side of the gap.

AI-skilled workers commanded a 56% wage premium in 2025… and you can guarantee that bump is already higher in 2026 and growing by the day.

To the contrary, we absolutely need to be on other side of the gap - where we are paying attention, trying AI stuff out, conversing with one another (and with our kids), and therefore building a voice on safety, values, regulation, and equity. 

There is a growing alliance of non-profits and global thought leaders coming together with a more optimistic direction. They recently published something called “A Better Path” - it outlines a vision and roadmap that puts humans first, along with what each of us can be doing to start to steer the ship.

Here are 3 meaningful things you can do:

My sense is that it is ok to be frustrated, even angry, but we need to be in the room.

My boys are in elementary school but I have a lot of friends who have kids that are getting ready to head to college. And hearing their stories, wow… it is mad competitive and the process feels overwhelming. Moreover, I think a lot of us parents are thinking “is this insane price tag even worth it… will it open the doors to a job and career path in the way that it has in the past?!”

A piece in The New Yorker this week poked at the same question and posed the idea that schools will have to differentiate on culture and quality of professors. Which immediately reminded me of something my Grandad used to say: don't take the class, take the teacher.

I think this advice is going to be more true than ever moving forward. AI is collapsing the value of curriculum (any kid with $20/month and curiosity can get a world-class explanation of organic chemistry or the French Revolution. But what AI cannot replicate is the human in the room. The genius, charismatic professor who somehow makes supply and demand the most fascinating topic in the world. The passionate classmate you stay up arguing with at 2am. The caring mentor who notices something in you before you do. The special coach who has the ability to inspire a team to perform beyond what they ever thought possible.

So: don't pick a college (or a job, or a team for that matter) without deep conviction about the people you'll learn from, and the people you'll learn alongside.

School is winding down and it’s easy to shift into summer mode without skipping a beat. But before your kids do, take a beat to reflect on the school year together.

An easy way to do this (and you can even make it a last-day ritual): at dinner, go around the table. Each person, kids and parents, names one thing they won't miss about this school year and one thing they will. (Tip, let the kids go first so they don’t anchor on your examples).

The two-part structure can help to capture the real emotions and feelings in a way that “can you believe the year is over?” won’t quite get at.

This week was Google’s big developer conference, Google I/O. They had a number of really cool announcements, but several are still in the process of rolling out. One that I was excited to see available instantly is something they call the “daily brief” - a personalized overview of the days priorities based on your inbox, calendar, and more.

You can check it out by simply clicking “Daily Brief” in the left side nav bar in Gemini (you’ll need a paid plan, unfortunately) as well as opting in to Personal Intelligence in the settings.

In a more amusing example of the growing anti-AI sentiment, the Internet went off on an “AI-generated Monet” - criticizing all that was terrible about it - when it turns out it was an actual Monet after all.