Generational Priming in AI Adoption: Shifting Anthropomorphism Baselines

AI adoption varies systematically across generations, with differential exposure to technology shaping patterns of engagement, reliance, and risk. I propose that generational priming skews the anthropomorphism baseline, producing cohort-specific tendencies in adoption and vulnerability. Older adults, shaped by the scarcity and novelty of early digital systems, anthropomorphize minimally and face risks tied to misunderstanding and misinformation. Bridge cohorts, transitioning from analog to digital, exhibit situational anthropomorphism and mixed vulnerabilities. Younger generations, immersed in digital environments from birth, often default to relational engagement with AI, raising identity-level concerns such as coherence erosion, dependency, and epistemic drift. While most existing evidence is cross-sectional or short-term, converging findings from developmental, design, and clinical studies suggest stronger emotional engagement, blurred human/AI boundaries, and heightened sensitivity to linguistic and interface cues among youth. Policy, regulation, and design can leverage these generational differences through measures such as transparent AI disclosures in youth-facing platforms, funding longitudinal studies that track identity development under AI exposure, and creating interdisciplinary advisory panels that bridge HCI, developmental psychology, and clinical research.