* This is the third post in a series highlighting different groups of metro Atlanta residents and their views on relevant regional topics, based on data from ARC’s Metro Atlanta Speaks Survey data.
In the first of this two-part article, Your Baby Boomer Neighbor’s Thoughts on the Future- Part 1, we examined how different age groups, both currently and historically, responded to the Metro Atlanta Speaks Survey question: “Looking ahead to the next 3 or 4 years, living conditions in Metro Atlanta will be…” We discovered that younger generations in metro Atlanta remain the most optimistic about the region’s near-term future living conditions, both in the most recent survey and in past ones. However, this is just one aspect of the larger picture of how all generations view life in metro Atlanta in the near future.
In this Part 2 of Your Baby Boomer Neighbor’s Thoughts on the Future, we aim to delve deeper, moving beyond sentiments about future living conditions. Let’s explore what different age groups think about pressing issues like artificial intelligence (“AI”) and climate impacts.
*Before we dive in, it is important to clarify that these aggregate survey responses are only from a sample of metro Atlantans. They do NOT represent any individual person from the age cohorts we are about to discuss. These give us helpful insights for planning and policy, but no information about specific individuals.
Artificial Intelligence’s effect on the future
Overall, the survey finds negative opinions about AI’s effects across all age groups. Respondents with balanced or positive views are in the minority.
Older generations, such as the Silent Generation and Baby Boomers, are the most negative about AI’s potential impact. 46% of respondents in the 50-64 and 65+ age groups believe that AI will have a mostly negative effect, compared to 41% of respondents in the 35-49 age group—a five percentage point difference.
Interestingly, older Millennials appear to be the most optimistic about AI. Twenty-seven percent of those respondents (now aged 35-49) believe AI is more likely to have a positive impact.
Surprisingly, the youngest groups, Gen Z and some younger Millennials (ages 18-34), are not the most positive about AI, even though they hold a generally favorable view compared to older generations. 35% of this age group expressed that they expect AI’s effects to be more balanced. This group had fairly equal shares of respondents across all response categories of “mostly negative”, “balanced”, and “mostly positive”.
Perceptions of Climate Impacts in the future
All age groups agree that shifts in climate will be a significant threat to the metro Atlanta area over the next decade. The majority of respondents from every age group indicated that they believe these changes will be a “major threat,” with no category surpassing a 40% response rate for any option besides the “major threat” category. Slight variations– at most three percentage points– across age groups regarding this perception.
However, there is a notable difference in how age groups view these changes as a “minor threat” over the coming decade. 38% of younger generations, such as Gen Z and Millennials, view climate change as a minor threat, compared to 32% of older generations.
Older generations are significantly more likely to see climate change in the metro Atlanta area as “not a threat” over the next decade. Twenty percent of individuals aged 65 and older responded with “no threat,” compared to just 13% of those aged 18-34.
Media Choices that shape future opinions
The opinions of metro Atlantans are shaped by a complex mix of social, emotional, environmental, and cognitive factors. Among the many theories that influence public opinion, such as Social Influence and Cost-Benefit analyses, Media influence theories play a significant role. How news headlines, conversations, or shows shape public perception is an ongoing area of research. The platforms through which we learn about issues like AI and climate issues play a role in forming our opinions by age group, whether we hold those opinions loosely or firmly.
News websites and social media and television platforms are far more popular than radio and newspapers across all age groups. Radio and newspapers are less used in accessing local news, with only 12% of all respondents in metro Atlanta using these platforms– combined.
Across age groups, the trend remains consistent: news websites, social media, and television are the most common sources of local news. Younger generations prefer news websites or social media for local news—64% of 18-34-year-olds and 51% of 35-49-year-olds in metro Atlanta rely on these platforms. Older generations favor television, with 45% of those aged 50-64 and 65% of those aged 65+ turning to TV for local news.
Of the less-used platforms, radio is relatively more popular than newspapers across most age groups. Only in the 65+ age group does consumption of newspapers (10%) exceed radio (at 4%).
In Summary
- Most age groups hold negative views about AI’s future impact. Older generations were the most negative; middle-aged generations were most positive, and the youngest age groups held the most neutral opinion.
- All age groups agree that climate shifts will be a major threat with younger generations seeing it as a slightly greater threat than older generations.
- News websites and social media and television are the primary sources of local news across age groups– compared to radio and newspapers. Younger generations rely on news websites and social media while older generations prefer television.
Stay tuned for our next blog post highlighting a different group of metro Atlantans about a relevant regional topic using the ARC Metro Atlanta Speaks 2024 Survey dataset!