From Generation Google to GenGPT: How the Way We Search is Changing Everything

Photo by Damian Zaleski on Unsplash

Specific questions can reveal someone’s generation better than any of the inferences that we can get from clothing or communication strategies. For instance, questions like “What were you doing when you heard about 9/11?”, “Do you prefer cash or card?” or “What was Usher doing at 7 o’clock?” can provide deep insight into your experiences and age. But, my new favorite questions focus more on education than critical cultural and historical turning points.

When conversing with students or teachers, I enjoy asking them about their methods for finding information. Specifically, how did they do their homework when they were younger? If you are an elder, finding information is a multi-step process, requiring card catalogs, library visits, and hours of due diligence. As a child, I learned to look up my questions if I had any, and I spent many hours flipping pages to find information.

As a millennial, I exist at the cusp of multiple avenues of information access. I grew up with physical encyclopedias and the CD-ROM version of the…