AI is prompting these Gen Zers to learn how to type
Gen Z workers are increasingly teaching themselves touch-typing skills to improve efficiency when interacting with AI tools. While voice dictation is an option, many find that precise keyboard input leads to better AI prompts and avoids the social awkwardness of talking to computers in open offices.
Why it matters
This trend highlights how the rise of generative AI is paradoxically reviving traditional digital literacy skills rather than making them obsolete.
Tom Vaughan-Mountford/Getty Images Gen Z grew up with phones and tablet typing, with many never learning keyboard skills. But in the age of AI-driven efficiency — and prompting — keyboard skills have a new use case. Some Gen Zers are becoming self-taught to avoid dictating AI prompts out loud. When Julia Andrusiak was in college, she noticed one of her professors repeatedly pausing his lecture. Eventually, she realized that she was the disruption: Her slow, two-finger typing was so loud that he couldn't concentrate. "It was the first moment I realized that I may not be the best at this," Andrusiak said. So she began drilling: First, she typed out books. That made her faster, but she was still staring at her keyboard. Then, she advanced to touch typing — typing without looking at the keyboard. She's still working on her speed and accuracy.
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