What if kids designed their own future?
Did you ever wonder if your food-throwing toddler or mouthy teenager could actually be a future global leader?
As adults, we tend to underestimate the power of our youngest humans' brains. Yet, from Greta Thunberg and Malala Yousafzai to number-cracking IT geniuses from Silicon Valley, our youngsters prove over and over again that their fertile minds are onto something great.
A few years ago, an Australian research agency McCrindle came up with a name for the youngest cohort – they were aptly called Generation Alpha. They are the children of the Millennials, born between 2010 (the year the iPad was invented) and 2025, and are often the younger siblings of Generation Z. There are more than 2.8 million of Alphas born globally every week. When they have all been born (2025), they will number almost 2 billion – the largest generation in the history of the world.
Who are Alphas? According to McCrindle, generation Alpha will comprise the most formally educated, technology-supplied, and wealthiest people. They'll also be far more eco-conscious, braver and more open to revolutionary changes than their parents. Alphas care for the environment and want to have jobs that will help them save the planet. Can you already visualise a world that is equally as fun and hi-tech as it is green?
So, this is what would happen if we gave the reins of power to our children.
Welcome to smart cities
Everyone knows that our kids are digital natives. They are coming of age in unprecedented times of change and rapid technological advancement, with screens placed in front of them from the youngest age as pacifiers, entertainers and educational aids. However, unlike us, because they're unencumbered by the past, they see technology as friendly and helpful. UK's Mihika Sharma became famous when – at the age of 5 – she came up with a design for a smart stick to help blind people cross the road. Her idea was so amazing that University College London built for her a prototype. Today, Mihika's magic stick has complex sensors to detect obstacles and puddles and connects to the user's phone GPS system.
It’s easy to imagine that in the cities of the future, we'll have voice-operated traffic lights (because who wants to touch germy buttons anymore?), free solar-powered scooters placed all around, and cars running on soapy water instead of petrol. Maybe we’ll even have playgrounds on Mars? (finally, “the floor is lava” game will get more real).
Let’s live in bubble houses
Forget smart houses; if our kids could have it their way, we'd live in FUN houses. Think of pop-up homes that can move location any time you need ("Let's all go to Granma's for cookies!"), or bubble houses that float in the air to be more ergonomic and sustainable. Oh, and of course, all buildings will be constructed from multicoloured bricks (surprise – resembling Lego!), and they'll change colours according to our mood and time of the day.
If you think this all is a little childish, don't be fooled. Our Alphas always have a common good at heart – their ideas touch on challenges of our present and future, such as poverty, overcrowding and global warming. As UK research confirms, 63 per cent of young kids plan to work somewhere helping to save the planet, and 67 per cent of mini-Alphas (6-9 year-olds) say that environmental issues will be the focus of their career.
Make food pink and cover in glitter
My 5.5 year-old son, Tadzio, said recently that he wants to abolish sugar. My jaw dropped, as ice cream and cookies are at the top of his most begged-for foods. But he's also acutely aware that they're unhealthy. His idea to resolve the dilemma? Let's make veggies cool! Future bio-engineering will have superpowers to turn any green, unappealing veg look pink or blue, and for the most unconvinced kids – also have it covered in glitter. We eat first with our eyes, don't we? I think Tadzio is onto something revolutionary.
Mindful gifts, sorted
If you ever struggle to buy your smart kid a present as they seem to already have everything, worry no more. The future of gift-giving may get super easy with the rise of 3D printing. In the near future, our kids will be able to design and make their own toys. This opens us up to endless iterations of classic toys, tailor-made not only according to our kids’ favourite colour but also to their unique needs. We’ll have mixed-race Barbies in a wheelchair, Hot Wheels track racing with pink cars or books that read stories aloud in many languages, allowing for the choice of accent and favourite tone of voice. It’ll be less waste and more inclusivity.
Rethinking robots
A child’s imagination is endless, and their thirst for knowledge is insatiable. Brian David Johnson, a futurist at Intel, says that children are better at future-casting than adults because they approach technology with less baggage and fewer preconceptions. He thinks that unlike us, the kids of the future will design robots as an extension of humans – friendly and social. “Kids say: I want my robot to play Lego with me. I want him to sing with me”, Johnsons claims. So, whereas we think of AI as engineered solely to help us with mundane, hard and dirty jobs, our youngsters see robots as friends fit for social interactions. So that’s your future bedtime routine sorted, I guess?
The op-ed was published as part of the Melbourne Knowledge Week festival in 2022.