Generation Z: Intensive Use of AI Fuels Their Growing Rejection

A Generation Under Pressure

For nearly three years, Silicon Valley has been vigorously promoting language model-based chatbots like ChatGPT, presenting them as an inevitable evolution. However, Generation Z feels this pressure particularly intensely. While they are among the largest users of these technologies, the youth of this generation are also participating in a cultural movement rejecting AI.

Deep Concerns

Young people are worried about the impact of AI on human relationships and communication. Meg Aubuchon, a 27-year-old art teacher in Los Angeles, prefers to avoid chatbots, even if it means choosing a less lucrative career. This generation faces a contradiction: they are told that AI tools will eliminate jobs, yet they must use them to avoid being left behind. After already losing years of youth due to the pandemic, they are navigating a world saturated with AI technologies.

Growing Resistance

Sharon Freystaetter, 25, a former cloud infrastructure engineer, left her job due to ethical and environmental concerns related to AI. She now avoids chatbots and disables AI features in her applications. She observes that, apart from her friends working in tech, her circle shares this opposition to AI. Young adults fear that chatbots harm critical thinking and social skills. A Harvard-Gallup study indicates that 74% of young adults in the United States use a chatbot at least once a month, but 79% are concerned that AI will make people lazier.

An Uncertain Future

Generation Z's views on AI are at a historically low level. Only 18% express optimism about the technology, down from 27% the previous year. Additionally, 50% of workers in this generation believe that the risks of AI outweigh its benefits. Universities are attempting to integrate AI into their programs, but young graduates complain about the difficulty of navigating a job market where automation tools filter their applications in an opaque manner.

A Rejection of AI in Education

Students at the University of Pennsylvania criticize their administration's adoption of chatbots, claiming it degrades education. They argue that AI corrupts spaces of human thought. Fears that chatbots lead to a loss of critical thinking skills are widespread. A study from MIT Media Lab showed that using AI tools decreases brain activity when writing essays.

An Awareness of Dangers

Although they use AI tools, young people are aware of the dangers, including the tendency of chatbots to "hallucinate" information. They seem more realistic about the actual capabilities of these tools, often exaggerated by figures like Sam Altman of OpenAI. Generation Z demonstrates that they are conscious of the limits of AI and the risks it poses for their future, both professionally and personally.