Future of work: A Gen Z wake-up call

Kashyap "Kash" Rajesh is 20 years old, a Junior at Cornell University studying Information Science and Government with a minor in AI, and he's been working in AI policy since he was 14.He supported the founding of Encode, a non-profit originally founded by young people, focused on how AI is impacting the public and particularly the next generation, which grew to 40 states and every inhabited continent. As VP, he helped lead and grow the organization, which advised the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy's AI Bill of Rights and filed an FTC complaint against AI companion app Replika. He now supports the Rithm Project, a research and movement-building org focused on pro-social AI and human connection, and is involved in research at the Cornell Brooks Tech Policy Institute and the JEM Lab for Generative AI at Work.In this episode, Kash talks with Svenia Busson about:Why entry-level jobs may outlast middle management in the AI transition — and what Gen Z should do about itThe Game Plan playbook Encode created to help Gen Z navigate the future of work (four archetypes: the Sleeper, the Anchor, the Tactician, and the Shaper)The loneliness crisis that preceded generative AI — and how AI is amplifying, not creating, itThe Rithm Project's youth research report identifying nine portraits of how young people relate to AI chatbotsAI sycophancy — and what it quietly does to a generation's capacity to be wrongThe wave of state-level AI safety legislation: California's SB 53, the New York RAISE Act, and Illinois House Bill 315Why the Take It Down Act matters and how non-consensual deepfake imagery is already a crisis in schoolsA rare, honest, and deeply informed voice from inside the generation most affected by AI.Links mentioned:ENCODE https://encodeai.org/The Rithm Project: https://www.therithmproject.org/Cornell Brooks Tech Policy Institute: https://publicpolicy.cornell.edu/btpi/Surgeon General's Advisory on Loneliness and Isolation (2023): https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/surgeon-general-social-connection-advisory.pdfCalifornia SB 53 / Illinois House Bill 315 / New York RAISE Act