Have computers and smartphones ruined the future of young people?

February 7, 2026

Abhishek Vij

Young people are the wealth of a nation, but a recent research study conducted across 80 countries suggests that despite the aid of artificial intelligence, robotics, and the computer revolution, this generation appears to have lower intelligence than their parents’ generation. This revelation was made by a US Senate committee. The reason cited is that young people are becoming increasingly dependent on digital technology and are relying on ready-made solutions instead of conducting their own research or investigations.

Instead of working on the foundations of diligence and originality, they are becoming copycats or clones of each other. India boasts that it has not allowed any developed country to surpass it in artificial intelligence or the digital world, but this research indicates that the new generation’s IQ, memory, and problem-solving abilities are lower than the previous generation’s in terms of knowledge, education, mathematics, and problem-solving skills.

While older generations patiently tackled even the most complex problems, not only succeeding in solving them but also setting milestones of development, the new generation is training its human brain with short videos and brief sentences. Depth has disappeared, originality is gone, face-to-face interaction with scholars and teachers is no longer common, and therefore, self-confidence has been shaken.

In India, children’s intellectual capacity has been declining since 2010. Computerization has become a very profitable business in this country, but research expert Dr. Garrett states that as technology has advanced in the world and now in Indian schools over the past 60 years, children’s learning abilities have decreased. Comparing the results across the country, it is found that children who use technology less or not at all perform better than those who rely on computerized gadgets. Now, there are plans to provide every student with a separate device for every task and every problem.

Work on this has already begun. The country’s curriculum is being changed, and artificial intelligence has become dominant. As AI has risen, book culture has declined. On one hand, there’s a plan to provide every student with individual devices, but despite this assistance, their scores have started to drop rapidly. What is the reason? The reason is that the younger generation, Generation Z, who use digital technology, become overly confident.

As children get smartphones, their originality is being destroyed. They are becoming copycats of the cartoon world. This immense power of the digital world has frightened the world’s emerging nations. Now, surveys also suggest that while we should advance in technology, we must also control it. If it becomes uncontrolled, it will create a virtual, destructive world for the younger generation.