This teenager who wrote a research paper on how AI could impact teen jobs

By Wailin Wong,

Stephan Bisaha

Published January 15, 2026 at 4:50 PM EST

A 17-year-old in California who got curious about the impact of AI on typical teen jobs. She embarked on an ambitious economic research project and shared her findings with us.

Wailin Wong

Wailin Wong is a long-time business and economics journalist who's reported from a Chilean mountaintop, an embalming fluid factory and lots of places in between. She is a host of The Indicator from Planet Money. Previously, she launched and co-hosted two branded podcasts for a software company and covered tech and startups for the Chicago Tribune. Wailin started her career as a correspondent for Dow Jones Newswires in Buenos Aires. In her spare time, she plays violin in one of the oldest community orchestras in the U.S.

Stephan Bisaha

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