Who Gets to Shape the Future of AI?

AI is reshaping how we work, learn and live. As governments from London to Seoul debate AI safety and cooperation, the biggest opportunity is not a new model or tool. It is who gets to shape it.

For over a decade my work has focused on one core idea. AI will only serve society well when the next generation is equipped not just to use it, but to question it, improve it and use it ethically. Building a responsible AI future means embedding education, ethics and inclusion into every layer of national AI strategy, because tomorrow's innovators are already here.

Inclusion as infrastructure

AI is often described as a tool for efficiency or productivity, but at its heart it reflects human values. The data we use, the assumptions we make, and the people we include or exclude all determine whether technology strengthens our society or fractures it.

At Teens in AI we run programmes for 12 to 18 year olds in over 100 countries. In 2024, 80 percent of participants came from diverse ethnic backgrounds, 69 percent attended state schools and 57 percent identified as girls. Those numbers show how many voices are already shaping the AI of the future. The industry looks very different. In the UK, women make up just 22 percent of the AI workforce, and people from minority ethnic backgrounds hold only 15 percent of tech roles.

As 2025 turns into 2026, a key part of our strategy is to teach the teachers. We give educators ready-to-use materials and resources so they can introduce AI concepts with confidence, even without prior experience. By equipping teachers as both facilitators and learners, we help schools embed AI literacy in a way that lasts, so understanding spreads far beyond any single programme.

Behind every AI use case sits a decision. Who builds it, whose assumptions shape it, and whose voices are absent. When we start AI literacy early, we build ethical reasoning, critical thinking, empathy and inclusion into the design process itself. That matters for fairness, for accountability and for social trust.

Why governments must rethink AI education

Governments worldwide are working out how to build AI capacity responsibly. In the UK, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology has acknowledged that closing the AI skills gap is critical to the ambitions set out in the National AI Strategy. Yet progress remains uneven. Most initiatives focus on adult reskilling or postgraduate study rather than early education, and that risks leaving a whole generation behind.

The World Economic Forum's Future of Jobs Report 2025 warns that 85 million jobs may be displaced globally while 97 million new roles emerge. Those new roles will demand creativity, ethics and digital fluency developed long before university.

I regularly contribute to government discussions on AI education policy. Most recently, at the UKAI Roundtable in Parliament, I joined policymakers to press the case for equipping young people with the knowledge and confidence to thrive in an AI-driven world. There was a shared understanding that future-proofing the economy has to start with schools, and that this requires long-term investment and collaboration across government, industry and civil society.

On 5 November 2025 the UK Government published its response to the Curriculum and Assessment Review, Building a World-Class Curriculum for All. It is a long-awaited step towards embedding AI literacy and digital competence across the national curriculum, and it signals an important shift. AI is being recognised not just as a technology issue but as an education one. I welcome this direction. It has been a long time coming.

For years, many of us in education and technology have called for a curriculum that keeps pace with social and technological change. The review's emphasis on AI, digital literacy and critical thinking reflects a growing consensus that early AI education is essential, for civic understanding and ethical reasoning as much as for future employability. As these recommendations move from policy to practice, collaboration between government, educators and social innovators will be vital, so that every young person benefits from the shift.

For the past decade we have shown how equipping young people early with an ethical and practical understanding of technology can inspire both innovation and social good. The government's commitment to an agile curriculum that embeds technology across all subjects aligns closely with what we see in classrooms every day. When young people understand the real-world context of AI, they develop the curiosity, empathy and confidence to lead responsibly.

The UK Government's White Paper on AI regulation proposes a pro-innovation model in which regulators apply five principles: safety, accountability, transparency, fairness and contestability. Legislation is not yet fully in place, but the framework shows exactly why early education in AI literacy and ethics matters. Globally, frameworks such as UNESCO's AI Competency Guidelines for Schools are setting a new benchmark for how countries build AI understanding into national curricula.

If AI is to serve people and not only profit, we have to reimagine what progress looks like. For governments, that means treating AI literacy as a civic skill, as essential as reading or numeracy, and making sure every young person has the chance to take part, whatever their background.

What the private sector can do differently

The private sector has a rare opportunity to drive social impact while addressing its own talent shortages. The UK AI Opportunity Action Plan notes that demand for AI skills far outpaces supply, with 60 percent of businesses citing recruitment as their biggest barrier to AI adoption.

This year's wave of layoffs follows a short-sighted pattern. As organisations replace junior roles with AI systems, they may gain short-term productivity while losing the long-term capacity to grow human expertise. Every algorithm trained today still depends on people who can ask better questions tomorrow. The companies that sustain innovation will be the ones that keep investing in young talent rather than cutting it.

This is where partnership matters. We work with global organisations including Sage, Capgemini and Red Hat to strengthen AI education while advancing social good. Together we co-design real-world challenges that give young people the skills, ethics and confidence to build responsible AI solutions. For our partners this is not philanthropy. It is a strategic investment in a diverse, future-ready workforce that reflects the values and needs of a fairer digital economy.

When organisations share mentorship and technical expertise, young people learn not just how to build with AI but why to build responsibly. In return, businesses gain imaginative, ethical and globally aware insight from the next generation.

Education as the foundation for responsible AI

AI will keep evolving faster than most institutions can regulate it. The only safeguard that scales is education, for students, teachers, parents, policymakers and employers alike. We have to move from awareness to agency.

That is why our focus is not just on teaching coding. We integrate the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals into every programme, building a culture of ethical inquiry and social responsibility. When young people understand bias, fairness and sustainability, they carry those principles into everything they create. Our alumni now lead university projects, apprenticeships and careers in AI ethics, data science and policy. That is proof that early investment builds lifelong impact.

The choices we make today about who gets to learn, create and lead with AI will set the values our future runs on. Looking ahead to 2026, our ambition is to make AI literacy as ordinary as reading and writing, available across subjects, languages and cultures. If we want technology that reflects the best of us, we have to invest in the people who will build it. Better to shape it together now, while the gap is still narrow enough to close, than to act once it has widened.

This article was first published by Digital Leaders.