Many call them Generation Z, while others call them the iPad generation or the screen generation. I, however, see them as the first models of a different generation — one that may alter the course of human civilisation just as the printing press, electricity, and the internet altered it before. We are not merely watching children using smart devices; we are watching the beginning of a new phase in the relationship between humanity and knowledge.
For the first time in history, a child is born with the entirety of humanity's library within reach. A question that crosses their mind does not wait hours or days for an answer — it is answered within seconds, backed by images, audio, video, simulation, and artificial intelligence. This knowledge environment has never been known by any previous generation, and it is therefore natural that it should produce a different way of thinking, learning, and creating.
Science tells us that the human brain is the greatest machine nature has ever known. Neuroscience estimates suggest its storage capacity is immense; it contains roughly 86 billion nerve cells connected by a complex network of synapses that change continuously with learning and experience. Every new piece of information, every skill a person acquires, leaves a mark on this extraordinary network. The brain, therefore, never stops reshaping itself throughout life.
More remarkable still, children are born with an exceptional capacity to build neural connections. In the early years, their brains are rich with a vast number of synaptic connections, and then a precise process known as synaptic pruning begins, in which the brain eliminates weaker connections and strengthens those used most frequently. It is a remarkable feat of biological engineering that makes thinking faster and more organised as one grows older.
But the question worth pondering is: what will the outcome of this process look like when a child grows up from birth in an environment driven by artificial intelligence?
I do not believe we yet grasp the scale of the transformation to come. Artificial intelligence will not merely be a tool for answering questions; it will become a teacher, an assistant, a designer, a translator, and a partner in thought. Children will grow accustomed to conversing with systems capable of explaining, analysing, and generating ideas at any moment they wish. This means that the time humans once spent searching for information will be transformed into time devoted to thinking, idea-making, and innovation.
Perhaps this is why I believe we stand at the beginning of the age of miracle generations. Not because they will be born with different minds, but because the environment that will shape their minds is entirely unlike anything humanity has ever known. Previous generations searched for knowledge; these generations will make knowledge search for them and come to them at the moment they need it.
Even so, technology alone does not produce geniuses. The mind requires values, discipline, curiosity, and the ability to distinguish truth from illusion. Artificial intelligence can provide an answer, but it cannot grant a person conscience, wisdom, or moral responsibility. For this reason, the family and the school will remain essential partners in building the human being, whatever heights technology may reach.
History teaches us that every technological revolution paved the way for one greater still. Today it appears we are living through the first moments of a revolution that will not be confined to advancing devices, but will reshape the very way human beings think. Perhaps in 50 years our grandchildren will read about our current mobile phones in the same way we read about the first typewriter or the first fax machine.
Some may disagree with this vision, but in my view it is not a distant dream — it is the beginning of a trajectory we can see taking shape before our eyes every day. We are not merely living in the age of artificial intelligence; we are living through the preparation of generations whose cognitive capacities will surpass what we have been accustomed to over centuries.
And when these generations reach positions of leadership in science, economics, and politics, the world may discover that everything we have considered the pinnacle of advancement until today was merely a prologue — and that the true future began with the first child who learned to converse with artificial intelligence before learning to write with a pen.