PURE Global urges schools and governments to measure youth AI agency

PURE Global used a Digital@UNGA session on Sept. 20 to argue that access to AI tools is not enough unless young people also gain literacy, influence and decision-making power. The discussion called on schools, governments and companies to measure agency, strengthen readiness and put youth voice into policy design.

Why it matters: - PURE Global says the biggest AI challenge for young people is not just access to tools, but whether they can understand, question and shape the systems around them. - The argument lands as schools, governments and employers race to adopt AI without clear ways to measure whether youth are gaining real opportunity or just new technology exposure. - The session framed youth agency as a practical test for institutional AI adoption, not a soft add-on.

What happened: - PURE Global convened an official Digital@UNGA affiliate session on Sept. 20, 2026, titled "From Access to Agency: Closing the AI Opportunity Gap for the Next Generation." - The virtual event focused on why digital access alone does not create meaningful opportunity for young people. - Dr. Shyla Talluri, founder and CEO of PURE Global, hosted and moderated the session. - The panel included Sanjana Chamarty of PURE Youth, Wanjiku Kamau of TealBridge and The Human Guide to AI, Fredrik Kocon of the Comptelligence Foundation, and Natalie Byrne of BE Human and blank space.

The details: - Speakers described a shift from passive AI consumption to informed creation, responsible participation and meaningful influence. - Chamarty brought a youth and classroom perspective, with emphasis on STEM literacy and student-led problem solving. - Kamau argued that access is only a starting point and pushed attention toward who is building, deciding and represented. - Kocon discussed human-centered AI transformation, capability building and institutional readiness. - Byrne focused on job skills, leadership practices and narratives that keep AI from diminishing humanity. - The conversation broadened the AI opportunity gap into five dimensions: access, literacy, guidance, participation and opportunity. - Speakers examined what young people need to understand and question AI, how institutions can provide responsible guidance and whether youth have real influence over decisions that affect their education, work and communities. - Dr. Talluri said young people should have the knowledge, support and opportunity to help shape the systems they live in. - Dr. Talluri also said progress should be measured by who can access AI, understand it, question it, shape it and use it to create meaningful opportunity. - The session identified three institutional priorities: measure agency, evaluate institutional readiness and place youth voice inside decision-making. - Under the first priority, success should be judged by whether young people gain judgment, creative capability, influence and pathways to opportunity, not just access to platforms. - Under the second priority, schools, governments and companies should test whether policies, staff capacity, safeguards and support systems are ready for responsible AI adoption. - Under the third priority, young people should help shape systems before policies are finalized, especially those from communities most likely to be excluded.

Between the lines: - PURE Global is making a broader policy argument: AI equity is not only about distributing technology, but about who gets to participate in decisions that govern it. - The session also suggests that institutions may overestimate progress if they track device or platform access without measuring judgment, confidence and influence. - Framing youth voice as a prerequisite for final policy design raises the bar for schools and governments that treat student input as an afterthought.

What's next: - PURE Global said it will carry the three priorities into its education, youth leadership and global engagement work. - The organization plans to keep focusing on turning technological access into informed participation and human agency. - PURE Global’s broader work continues across education access, youth leadership, health, wellbeing and community development.

The bottom line: - PURE Global wants institutions to stop treating AI access as the finish line and start measuring whether young people actually gain agency.