# Jassy: Gen Z must embrace AI but guard critical thinking

> Amazon's CEO tells young people they cannot avoid AI, but warns against letting it replace human judgment and independent reasoning.
- Title: Jassy: Gen Z must embrace AI but guard critical thinking
- Summary: Amazon's CEO tells young people they cannot avoid AI, but warns against letting it replace human judgment and independent reasoning. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy…
- Keywords: andy jassy, amazon, artificial intelligence, gen z, critical thinking, workplace skills, daniel lubetzky, matt garman, Jassy, Gen, must, embrace
- Source: Fortune — https://fortune.com/2026/10/26/amazon-ceo-andy-jassy-gen-z-advice-ai-era-critical-thinking-soft-skills-writing
- Author: Preston Fore
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: andy jassy, amazon, artificial intelligence, gen z, critical thinking, workplace skills, daniel lubetzky, matt garman
## Jassy's personal stake in AI
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy has two Gen Z children, ages twenty five and twenty two, navigating the same AI revolution reshaping education and the workplace alongside him.
## You can't run away from AI
Jassy told The a sixteen z Show young people cannot avoid AI or wish it away. It will reshape every aspect of their work and enable invention previously impossible.

> You can't run away from it and you can't wish it away.
## Learn AI across all fields
Jassy encouraged young people from all backgrounds to learn and experiment with AI. Neither of his children were developers, but both used AI to build applications.

> You need to learn about it, educate yourself, use it a lot.
## AI eliminates grunt work
AI can remove tedious preliminary work like reading, research and note-taking, allowing people to reach an advanced starting point much more quickly, Jassy said.
## But don't let AI write for you
Jassy warned that AI-generated writing is easy to spot as not quite right because the pieces don't fit together. Human judgment and critical thinking remain essential.

> I still think you're going to need human judgment and ingenuity and invention and experimentation.
## Business leaders demand critical thinking
Billionaire Daniel Lubetzky and Amazon Web Services CEO Matt Garman both emphasize that critical thinking, creativity and flexibility are increasingly sought after in workplaces.

> Being a critical thinker is in high demand, and they're going to become greater demand.
## Question everything to develop your mind
Lubetzky advised Gen Z to study history and philosophy, then question all assumptions by asking why repeatedly and checking sources. This develops a mind that beats others.

> Always ask why, and then go one level below double click, triple click, to the sources.
## Key takeaway

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy advises young people to learn and use AI but preserve critical thinking, as business leaders increasingly value independent reasoning over AI-generated work.