Scot Stutzman’s dog Cliff is pictured jumping over the Empire State Building - or is he?

“Hey” Google, Alexa, Siri….. There was a time when searching for answers required a little more depth than simply making a request from a digital assistant like Google, Amazon, Apple, or Samsung. As of March 2025, Google maintains the majority market share for searches, while AI platforms like ChatGPT are seeing growth in usage. Additional data from Google indicates that the average users are young adults and that three or more searches are conducted daily to acquire quick information and/or solutions related to health, technology, or general “how-to” guides.

Our reliance on single source information highways and AI driven media presents a new set of questions; Are we inadvertently seeking truth from a sole source? Does this centralization increase the potential for information to be inaccurate, lacking or leaving out important details, or skewed? How will this generation develop critical thinking skills?…..and most importantly, did you see my dog Cliff jump over the Empire State Building?

All levity aside, this shift is a huge leap with respect to media consumption trends in years past. Consider the evolution of television; previously, viewers consumed content as presented; not that all content was without character issues or boundaries being challenged with the growth of progressive segments but what you got is what you got, without any confusion as per what was considered reality. Over recent years, however, there’s an evident undertone in media using subtlety and illusion to embed new social norms that might not be universally acceptable. If these norms are continually placed in front of viewers, there is indeed a strong potential for new standards to be ingrained due to a desensitizing effect, especially on young and impressionable minds. All of this raises a few vital questions to ponder: How do we help this generation develop unwavering character and an understanding of truth when society attempts to shift our moral compass through both direct influence and subtle exposure? How will this generation know the difference between truth vs what was designed by AI and shared on social media or through the help of digital assistants and what impact will this have on the impressionable?