California recruits teens to help advise on state’s AI and technology decisions

August 18, 2026 - 12:58

Sacramento saw an unusual sight this week as twenty high school students from over ten different school districts gathered for the inaugural meeting of the state's new Teen Tech Council. The group is not a student government exercise. These teens are being asked to give real input on how California handles artificial intelligence, data privacy, and the rollout of new digital tools in schools and public services.

The idea behind the council is simple. State officials recognize that young people are the ones living with the consequences of tech decisions every day, yet they rarely have a seat at the table. The council aims to change that by making teens formal advisors. At the first session, students did not just listen to presentations. They broke into working groups to discuss topics like algorithmic bias in school software, the ethics of AI chatbots in classrooms, and what digital literacy should look like for their generation.

One of the student members, a junior from Fresno, said the conversation felt more practical than she expected. She noted that adults often talk about screen time or social media dangers, but the council is digging into how automated systems decide which students get flagged for extra help or which applications get approved for college. That level of detail matters, she said, because those systems affect real lives.

The council is set to meet several times over the next year. Their recommendations will go to the state's technology and education departments, though officials made clear that the teens are not just a symbolic gesture. The goal is to build policy that actually reflects how young people use and are affected by technology. Whether that happens remains to be seen, but the first meeting suggested that these students are ready to be taken seriously.