Virtual Natives

10The First Cyborgs

When ChatGPT burst on the scene in December 2022, teachers around the globe went into a frenzy. How could they prevent their students from using it? How could they spot when a student had “cheated” and used it to write their essays? But Virtual Natives had an entirely different reaction. “Cool, this is just like having a calculator in my math class, except this is for English class. Grunt work, goodbye!”

Virtual Natives already use digital tools to do almost everything of importance in their lives, from their homework to staying in touch with friends, to entertaining themselves on a rainy afternoon, to generating eye‐opening levels of income while still too young to vote. It is only natural that they view Artificial Intelligence (AI) in all its forms as a natural partner and collaborator, not as a threat. It's still early days, but all signs point to the likelihood of Virtual Natives being the generation that most intensely embraces AI, with potential world‐changing consequences.

“Tell Us About the New Digital Natives in Virtual Spaces”

We consciously set out to publish the world’s first book cover co‐designed by AI, using Midjourney (Thanks Carlos! Thanks Wiley!); it wasn’t long before we wondered how else we might use AI.

After all, writing a book takes a lot of research, thinking time, and especially physical typing time. And time is one resource that, once gone, can never be replaced.

So, after several intense months of research and writing, we started ...