[The author of this essay from Forbes argues that, ironically, presence-evoking technologies are a potential solution to negative impacts of recent trends in technology use and other aspects of modern life on the communication skills of young people. Follow the Bodyswaps link and visit Cortney Hardin’s website for more information. –Matthew]

[Image: Argentina, Buenos Aires, Starbucks Coffee, barista making drinks. Credit: Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images]

Can Artificial Intelligence And Virtual Reality Cure The Gen Z Stare?

By Cortney Harding, an expert in VR, AI, and the future of work
September 8, 2025

If you’ve spent any time on TikTok recently, you’ve likely come across videos about the “Gen Z stare.” Simply put, it’s the blank, glazed expression on a young person’s face when someone asks a simple question, puts in an order, or just expects them to communicate verbally. Many Gen Z’ers defend the “stare” as a valid response to stupid comments; and, like many TikTok trends, it makes a mountain out of a molehill – but that molehill is still pretty big, and warrants further examination. If Gen Z doesn’t learn how to communicate, it could hold them back, especially in a future where AI will take over many rote tasks and the ability to relate to others will become a critical skill.

On one hand, this panic over Gen Z’s lack of communication chops is par for the course – it seems that every generation, once enough of them reach their early twenties, is typecast as strange, entitled, and averse to work. This isn’t so much about Gen Z, millennials, or Gen X so much as it is about twenty-two year olds being messy, partly formed weirdos – eventually they grow up and learn how to be human, and the cycle continues. But at the same time, Gen Z is facing some unique challenges, and the same technology that is part of the cause can also be part of the solution.

Due to the Covid lockdowns, Gen Z missed out on key socialization time, spending days communicating via Zoom calls and texting. But even before Covid, Gen Z teens were less social than previous generations; according to the World Economic Forum, 28 % of 12th-graders in 2017 reported meeting with friends almost every day, compared with 52 % in 1976. And once lockdowns lifted, socializing in person continued to trend downwards.

The death of the summer job for teens is another reason many Gen Z twenty-somethings seem clueless in the workforce. For previous generations, these summer jobs were not just a way to make some extra money but also an introduction to the world of work – showing up on time, dealing with customers, solving problems and taking responsibility. They were generally low pressure and often, if not exactly fun, an opportunity to hang out with other teens, make new friends, and bond over sub-optimal working conditions. But a tightening job market, a relentless focus on college admissions for some groups of young people, and greater automation of rote tasks like working a checkout have all led to fewer teens spending their summers scooping ice cream or bagging groceries.

So how can Gen Z learn how to have human interactions? One of the best solutions around can be found in the technology they use almost every day. By using AI-powered virtual humans to practice having conversations, they can spend time in safe space and make mistakes consequence free, as well as simply getting comfortable with having face-to-face conversations. If they have these conversations in a virtual reality headset, they will feel like they are actually sitting across the table from another person, and can proceed to ask if they want to order or have any questions from there.

This type of conversation practice and training is already being successfully deployed by Fortune 100 companies and several universities, with compelling results. Some universities are using Bodyswaps to help students develop critical human skills before they enter the workplace, and they report that 95% of educators say their program increases student engagement with learning communication skills. Additionally, they claim that 90% of educators say Bodyswaps helps students be more confident interacting with others and 88% of students think Bodyswaps helps their focus.

The real key is making sure that young people feel empowered to create their own scenarios for practice and are able to keep trying different tactics until they feel confident. In a way, it is almost akin to exposure therapy, being put in the same situation over and over again until it feels natural and comfortable.

Young people will keep engaging with technology, and at a certain point it is foolish to expect them to become phone-first. Companies should do their part to make text based and app based services more accessible and robust – there is really no reason to have a stilted and often difficult to understand phone conversation with customer service when texting is faster and more scalable. Likewise, the Gen X’ers among us can accept that those marathon phone catch ups are a thing of the past, and long texting sessions are the future, at least until AR glasses change the way we communicate again. But that doesn’t mean that younger folks don’t need to learn how to talk to others, and technology can enable this. Pretty soon, the blank stare will morph into a warm smile.