My layman understanding is that the generations in US culture are as follows:

• Lost generation: defined by being of serving age during WW1.

• Greatest generation: defined by being of serving age during WW2.

• Silent generation: defined by growing up in the poverty of the Great Depression.

• Baby Boomers: defined by growing up during the post-WW2 US economic explosion and resulting baby boom.

• Generation X: defined by growing up during the 60s/70s/80s explosion of artistic and political counter-cultures.

• Generation Y / millennials: I often see people define them as being born late enough to not remember the challenger explosion but early enough to remember 9/11. However, I personally think the events that actually caused the defining traits associated with the generation are the end of the Cold War (hence not growing up with constant news about the threats and atrocities of 'communist' countries, hence less aversion to economic leftism), the tipping point of progressive values becoming mainstream, wages vs profits divergence aligning with the tipping point of urbanisation (hence needing multiple jobs, and being unable to afford home ownership or parenthood), and the opening up of China (hence outsourcing manufacturing, hence increase in service jobs, hence false impression of having-it-easy / laziness). I acknowledge that the large number of defining events makes it unwieldy but no single one of them is enough to explain all the defining millennial traits.

• Generation Z / zoomers: defined by growing up with the War on Terror, and the internet / smart technology during adolescence.

• Generation alpha: defined by growing up with the internet / smart technology since infancy.

So, assuming my understanding above is even remotely correct, this raises the question: will the generation after generation alpha (generation beta?) also be defined by a technological change (e.g. generative AI, superconductivity, transhumanism etc) rather than a political/cultural one (e.g. COVID-19 pandemic, WW3, climate change etc)?

Strangely enough, some previous heavily disruptive technologies (e.g. cars, radio, TV etc) haven't been considered influential enough to warrant their own US generation divide, and the same goes for some more recent political changes (e.g. the Vietnam War, the Drug War etc).

Will probably resolve based either on major dictionary definitions, Wikipedia, or a poll, whichever seems most reliable years from now.