Threats and risks from the digitalization of society and artificial intelligence: Views of generation Z students

Abstract

The aim of this article was to identify the nature of threats and risks for people and society from the digitalization of society and the introduction of artificial intelligence from the perspective of Russian and Slovak students of Generation Z. The main empirical research methods were questionnaires, in-depth interview and focus group. In the context of the COVID 19 pandemic limitations, the research was conducted remotely using Google Form, Skype, and Zoom. 1857 GenZ students from 35 Russian universities and 316 GenZ students from two Slovak universities took part in the survey. When comparing the populations of Russian and Slovak GenZ by qualitative characteristics, a very high positive correlation was revealed with the Pearson correlation coefficient R=0.962-0.9782. The following trend was revealed: an increase in the rate of digitalization of society and the introduction of AI in comparison with the rate of study by society, a person of the possibilities of the digital environment, AI, and their mastery of technologies for using AI. The study revealed a stable connection: digitalization and AI create comfortable conditions for human life and at the same time generate a danger for human dependence on the digital environment. The main directions for the further development of this study can be studying this problem in other countries, the definition of a methodology for identifying threats and risks, and the development of a set of measures to overcome them.