Girls Who Code CEO Tarika Barrett Says Student AI Skepticism Can Be a Strength

Tarika Barrett, the outgoing CEO of Girls Who Code, says visible student skepticism about artificial intelligence should be seen as an asset for educators and the tech industry. Barrett framed the backlash — notably audiences booing when speakers mention large language models (LLMs)—as a central challenge for her organization and for broader efforts to redefine what coding means as AI capabilities proliferate. Barrett will leave the nonprofit this summer. Graduates and current students, Barrett says, are increasingly unenthusiastic about working with AI. That sentiment has surfaced in public settings: some audiences have booed commencement speakers who referenced LLMs, and many young people reportedly do not view AI as an attractive part of their future careers.

Girls Who Code, which has spent more than a decade preparing young women for jobs in technology and pushing for greater gender parity in computer science, is responding to that shift. Barrett described the organization’s task as adapting programming and identity around coding so participants can navigate a landscape where AI changes what technical work looks like.

As part of that adaptation, the group has introduced programming it calls 'vibe‑coding' and says it is 'embracing it all' to broaden who feels welcome in coding. Barrett said these curriculum changes are meant to expose participants to new modes of coding and to help students 'understand what it looks like' as the identity of coding shifts amid AI advances. That pedagogical shift occurs against a wider market backdrop: tech executives have warned that frontier AI labs could automate away many jobs, and companies are already reducing the number of coders they need. Even computer science majors who still aim for Silicon Valley face an uncertain hiring landscape as firms reassess technical headcount.

Barrett highlighted a pronounced gendered dimension to AI adoption: women disproportionately appear to be biased against using AI. Reported reasons include anxiety about AI’s capacity to make errors, concerns about AI’s energy demands, and unease that the technology will further concentrate influence among tech billionaires, producing a measurable gap in AI usage along gender lines.

Rather than dismiss these worries, Barrett argued they should be treated as a resource for shaping better technology. 'We have a deeply held belief that the quality of our technology, the future of AI in particular, depends on who’s going to build it,' she said, adding that 'young people should be at the forefront, given its impact on every possible sector of our lives.' That perspective, she implies, could influence who enters tech and how AI systems are designed.