Your grandchild tosses out the name of an AI stock, casual as can be, like they’re mentioning a video game. You nod. You smile. And inside, you have no idea what they just said.
That gap is more common than you think. A September 2025 Pew Research Center survey found that 62 percent of U.S. adults under 30 say they’ve heard a lot about artificial intelligence. For adults 65 and older, that number drops to 32 percent.
So if the investing vocabulary your grandkids use sounds like a foreign language, you’re in good company.
Start with what the phrase actually covers. When people say “AI stock,” they usually mean one of three kinds of companies. Some design the specialized computer chips that make artificial intelligence possible. Some build and run the enormous data centers where all that computing happens. And some create the software and services that businesses and households end up using. Some of the largest do all three.
Here is something your grandchild may not realize. If you hold an S&P 500 index fund in a retirement account, you already own many of these companies. By several recent estimates, the ten largest companies in that index, most of them technology firms tied to AI, now make up close to 40 percent of its total value. That is well above the historical norm. So this may be a world you have been quietly invested in all along.
You may also be surprised by how your grandchild really feels about all this. In an August 2026 Pew Research Center report, 55 percent of adults under 30 said they were more concerned than excited about the growing use of AI in daily life. That was the first time a majority of that age group had said so, and their level of concern now roughly matches that of adults 65 and older. The excitement you hear across the dinner table may be sitting right next to some real doubts. Ask about those too. They can be the most interesting part of the conversation.
Here is the thing: you don’t need to understand every term to stay part of the conversation. Asking what something means, how it works, and what risks it carries is a perfectly good place to start.
Each question does a different job. “What does it mean?” invites a plain-English explanation, and most people enjoy giving one. “How does it work?” moves past the buzzwords to the actual business: what the company sells, and who pays for it. And “What are the risks?” is the question a seasoned investor asks anyway. Prices that climb quickly can fall just as quickly, and you have lived through more of those cycles than your grandchild has. That perspective is worth something, and it belongs at the table.
If a name goes by too fast, ask them to pull it up on their phone. Looking at a company’s page together turns an unfamiliar ticker into a real business with products, customers, and a track record. It also gives you both something to point at.
Those three questions open a door. Your grandchild gets to explain something they’re excited about. You get to learn something new. And just like that, a confusing moment turns into a real connection.
