Video Killed the Radio Star, AI Won’t Kill Gen X
In the race to adopt AI, everyone assumes digital-native Millennials will lead, and Gen X will be the ones scrambling to keep up. I think it’s the opposite. As a creative producer for 20+ years, I’ve watched countless tools of the trade come and go. No generation currently working has re-learned its craft through more technical upheaval than we have; that hard-won instinct to know which tools matter and which are hype is the single most valuable thing you can bring to the AI era.
Gen X (the MTV generation) has evolved technologically in almost the exact same way MTV has. The channel that once lived and breathed music videos slowly morphed into reality TV, then streaming, then a whole cross-platform brand. We did the same thing at our desks. Same instinct, same restlessness, same refusal to get stuck on one format.
Same Energy, Different Decade — MTV vs. Gen X at Work
Compared to the Boomers who came before and the Millennials who followed, Gen X sits in a unique spot. Boomers largely entered the workforce before computers were routine and adopted them mid-career; Millennials grew up with the Internet baked in as digital natives. Gen X started analog and had to re-learn our craft with every major shift. That constant retooling may be our biggest advantage now.
What does that mean for the Gen X creative producer in the AI era? We’re comfortable with change, we know how to evaluate a shiny new tool without falling for the hype, and we can bridge the room between execs who remember fax machines and juniors who prompt in their sleep. AI is moving faster than any shift we’ve ever faced, and there’s a nagging pressure to keep proving we belong in the conversation.
A Mather Institute study found Gen X uses AI at work less than Millennials but more than Boomers (HR Dive, “Gen X may be pivotal in bridging generations at work,” Feb 2026), and Alight’s 2025 Employee Mindset Study reports that 55% of Gen X employees were already using AI on the job. I believe that lower-than-Millennials number isn’t a gap to close; it represents the deliberate attitude Gen X uses when adopting new technology. When none of us can be sure about what the AI era brings next, approaching deliberately rather than reflexively will be rewarded.
Experimenting with AI has been inspiring, especially finding ways to fast-forward tasks that used to be a slog. Knowledge-sharing with my peers has been just as valuable, and I’m eager to keep learning.
If Gen X really is the generation that has ridden out the most technical transitions in the modern workplace, then that versatility is exactly what makes us valuable right now. We’re not the generation getting left behind by AI; we’re the one that’s been training for it all along. Speaking as someone who’s changed channels more times than I can count, I’m genuinely excited to see what’s on next. Click!
