Babies born in 2025 are the first of Generation Beta

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo., (KBSI) – This year marks the start of a new generation — Generation Beta.

Gen Beta comes after Gen Alpha — they are the children born between 2025 and 2039 and are most likely to be parented by Gen Z.

According to social researcher Mark McCrindle, generations are defined by events, technologies and cultural shifts of their times.

“Each generation is a reaction to the one that went before, not a continuation of it,” he said. “Society is more like a pendulum that swings back and forth, and a new generation will correct, perhaps sometimes, the overreach of the previous one.”

McCrindle said Gen Beta will grow up with the experience of smart technology and artificial intelligence fully integrated into daily life.

“They probably won’t need to learn things because they’ll be one audible question away from having A.I. answer it and solve it,” he said. “But they are going to need to develop character, values, empathy and understanding and to listen — not just to have answers which A.I. can give — but to know what it is to be human.”

McCrindle said people who are a part of Generation Z grew up with smart technology and social media — they have seen both the good and bad sides of it. Research shows that with that understanding, Gen Z parents are more likely than Millennials to limit their children’s screentime.

With this in mind, he predicts Gen Beta will learn how to better balance technology in their lives — that they will be globally minded, community focused and more collaborative than ever.

“I’m optimistic about the future rather than pessimistic,” he said. “I think humans can learn from the past to make corrections.”