Gen Z's AI sentiment turns negative as anger rises and hopefulness plummets despite steady use

Half of Gen Z Uses AI, but Their Feelings Are Souring, Study Shows

A new study from Gallup found that young adults have grown less hopeful and more angry about artificial intelligence. Think young people are charging eagerly into an A.I.-mediated future? Think again. More than half of Gen Z-ers living in the United States use generative artificial intelligence regularly, but their feelings about the technology are souring, according to a new survey released on Thursday by Gallup, the Walton Family Foundation and GSV Ventures, a venture capital firm that works in education technology. The percentage of respondents ages 14 to 29 who said they felt hopeful about A.I. declined sharply since last year, down to 18 percent from 27. Young adults' excitement about artificial intelligence dropped, too, and nearly a third of respondents indicated that the technology made them feel angry. The survey of more than 1,500 people was conducted in February and March. Its results suggest that Americans' animosity toward A.I. extends to a younger generation -- one that is currently struggling to find its footing in the workplace. "In most of these cases, Gen Z-ers have become increasingly skeptical, increasingly negative -- from a place where even last year, they weren't particularly positive about it," said Zach Hrynowski, a senior education researcher for Gallup who worked on the survey. He said he had been surprised by how noticeably young people's attitudes had shifted. Many respondents did acknowledge that A.I. might make them more efficient in school and the workplace, he said. But they were concerned about how the technology would affect their creativity and critical thinking skills. Young adults in the work force were especially skeptical. Close to half of those surveyed said the risks of artificial intelligence outweighed its potential benefits in the workplace, an 11-point jump from the previous year. Only 15 percent said they saw A.I. as a net benefit.

Gen Z's fading AI hype

By the numbers: The share of Gen Z respondents who agree that AI makes them excited fell from 36% last year to 22% in 2026, per the findings from the Walton Family Foundation, GSV Ventures and Gallup. * Additionally, a smaller share feel hopeful (18%) this year than last (27%) -- and a larger share say they feel angry (22% to 31%). * That rising anger may be driven by AI dimming prospects for entry-level workers, says Gallup Senior Education Researcher Zach Hrynowski. The oldest Zoomers, he points out, are the angriest. * Gen Z, who grew up as digital natives, is perhaps more "acutely aware" of AI's impact versus someone in their mid career who "is playing around with AI, but doesn't feel threatened by it to the extent that maybe Gen Z does," he says. The fine print: Gen Zers' feelings about AI, the report notes, are closely linked with how much they use the tech: Daily AI users are more curious, excited and hopeful than even weekly users. * Still, even daily users are less excited and hopeful than they were last year. One might expect for AI use to slip with sentiment. But Gen Z's adoption of AI in daily life is largely unchanged from last year's survey, with just over half saying they use the tech daily (22%) or weekly (29%). * Hrynowski says that the plateaued usage "speaks to the the reticent acceptance that this technology is here to stay." * Gen Z may not be excited about adopting the tech -- but they recognize they may have to: Despite apprehension around AI, a majority of Gen Z K-12 students (52%) agree they'll have to know how to use it for college or classes after high school. That's up from 47% last year. What we're watching: The increasingly skeptical generation is also an increasingly prepared one. * More than half of K-12 students (56%) say they'll have the skills to use AI daily after they graduate high school, compared to 44% last year. Methodology: The results are based on a Gallup Panel web survey conducted Feb. 24-March 4 with a sample of 1,572 14- to 29-year-olds living in all 50 states and D.C. For the total sample of Gen Z respondents, the margin of sampling error is +/- 3.6 percentage points at the 95% confidence

Gen Z uses AI all the time, so why are they starting to hate it?

Gen Z was supposed to be AI's biggest fan. The numbers tell a very different story. More than half of Gen Zers in the US use generative AI regularly. So you'd think they'd be its biggest cheerleaders. As it turns out, not so much. According to a New York Times report, a new survey by Gallup, the Walton Family Foundation, and GSV Ventures surveyed more than 1,500 people aged 14 to 29 and found that Gen Z is growing increasingly skeptical of the technology they use every day. Is the excitement wearing off? The numbers are pretty telling. Excitement for AI dropped 14 percentage points since last year, hopefulness fell nine points, while anger rose by nine points. Only 18% of Gen Zers say AI makes them feel hopeful, and just 22% say it excites them. Meanwhile, 42% report feeling anxious about it, and 31% feel outright angry. What's interesting is that even daily users, who are generally more positive about AI, are becoming less optimistic. Among those who use AI every day, excitement and hopefulness dropped 18 points and 11 points, respectively, compared to last year. More access clearly isn't translating into more confidence. What's driving the frustration? A big part of it comes down to what Gen Z thinks AI is doing to their brains. A whopping 8 in 10 respondents said it is likely that using AI tools will make it harder for them to learn in the future. They are also skeptical about its impact on creativity and critical thinking, with 38% and 42% respectively saying AI will do more harm than good in those areas. The workplace isn't looking much rosier. Among employed Gen Zers, 48% say the risks of AI outweigh the benefits, compared to just 15% who see it as a net positive. Trust in AI-assisted work is also low, with 69% saying they trust work done without AI more. Recommended Videos That said, Gen Z isn't giving up. Close to half of high schoolers believe AI skills will be necessary for their future careers. They're not ignoring it, they're just going in with their eyes wide open.

Gen Z's AI Adoption Steady, but Skepticism Climbs

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- While a steady 51% of Gen Zers in the U.S. report using generative artificial intelligence at least weekly, negative emotions toward it have intensified over the past year. Anger about the technology has risen, while excitement and hopefulness have dropped. Even daily AI users, who generally hold more favorable views of AI, have not become more positive, according to a new survey by the Walton Family Foundation, GSV Ventures and Gallup. Generation Z -- those born between 1997 and 2012 and who are currently aged 14 to 29 -- is not convinced that AI enhances creativity or critical thinking, and the majority believe it may come at a cost, particularly to learning. Employed Gen Zers echo these concerns relative to the workplace, as more say the risks of AI outweigh its benefits, and trust in AI-assisted work is lower than in exclusively human output. Meanwhile, about half of Gen Z K-12 students think they will need to know how to use AI in their postsecondary education or their future jobs. Nearly three in five students believe they will be adequately prepared for daily AI use after high school. These findings are from a web survey conducted Feb. 24-March 4, 2026, with a sample of 1,572 14‑ to 29‑year‑olds, using the probability-based Gallup Panel. This is the latest research in the Voices of Gen Z study. Gen Z's use of generative AI in everyday life has been largely stable since March 2025. About half (51%) of 14- to 29-year-olds continue to say they use AI either daily (22%) or weekly (29%), while 11% report using it monthly, 20% every few months, and 19% say they never use it. (Generative AI is defined for this study as technology capable of creating new content based on what you tell it to do, such as writing, brainstorming or creating images.) Gen Z K-12 students (56%) are more likely than Gen Z adults (48%) to say they use AI at least weekly. Over the past year, Gen Z's sentiment toward AI has become significantly more negative on three of the four emotions first measured in 2025. Gen Zers' strong agreement or agreement that they feel excited about AI has dropped 14 percentage points to 22%, while hopefulness has fallen nine points to 18%, and anger has increased nine points to 31%. At the same time, anxiety about AI is steady at 42%. Curiosity, which was added to the list of emotions in this year's survey, is currently the most common, felt by 49% of Gen Zers. Gen Zers' feelings about AI are closely tied to how frequently they use it. Among daily users, 69% report feeling curious, 44% excited and 38% hopeful about the technology. This compares with 28% who are curious among those who never use AI, along with 4% excited and 2% hopeful. Meanwhile, negative emotions about AI are far more prevalent among nonusers, with 60% reporting anxiety and 59% anger, compared with 28% and 18%, respectively, among daily users. However, even daily users' positivity has declined significantly over the past year. Gen Zers who report using AI daily are less excited than they were last year (down 18 points) and less hopeful about it (down 11 points). Their anxiety and anger about AI are statistically similar to last year's levels. Gen Zers are less inclined than they were in 2025 to believe AI improves efficiency in learning and completing tasks. The 56% of Gen Z who now agree or strongly agree that AI tools can help expedite work is down 10 points from 2025, while agreement that AI can accelerate learning has fallen seven points, to 46%. Similar proportions of Gen Zers believe AI will help (37% a little or a lot) or hurt (39% a little or a lot) their ability to search for accurate information, while about a quarter think it will do neither. At the same time, more tend to believe the technology will be harmful rather than helpful to their abilities to come up with new ideas on their own (38% harmful, 31% helpful) or think carefully about information (42% harmful, 25% helpful). Gen Zers are less optimistic today than last year that AI will enhance their creativity and research skills, with the percentages expecting it to help them down 11 and six points, respectively. Gen Zers also question whether AI's short-term conveniences come at the expense of their long-term development. Eight in 10 Gen Zers say it is "very" (34%) or "somewhat" (46%) likely that using AI tools will make it more difficult for them to learn in the future. Employed Gen Zers are more than three times as likely to say the risks of AI in the workforce (48%) outweigh the potential benefits than to say the reverse (15%), while 37% view them as roughly equal. This reflects a more negative outlook than a year ago, when 37% saw greater risks and 20% greater benefits. Gen Z workers place more trust in work completed without AI (69%) than in AI-assisted work (28%). Virtually no workers indicate greater trust in work produced solely by AI (3%). These findings are similar to last year's. Fifty-two percent of Gen Z K-12 students (up from 47% in 2025) agree or strongly agree that they will need to know how to use AI if they go to college or take classes after high school. Nearly as many, 48%, think they will need to know how to use AI in their future jobs or career, which is statistically similar to last year's finding. K-12 students' confidence that they will be prepared for the future has increased, with 56% now saying they agree or strongly agree that they will have the skills needed to use AI in their daily lives after graduation from high school. This is up 12 points since last year. The share of K-12 students who report that their school has AI rules jumped from 51% in 2025 to 74% in 2026. Access to AI tools from school computers rose from 36% to 49% over the same period. Among students whose school has a policy, 65% are now permitted to use AI for schoolwork, up from 55% in 2025. Still, only 28% of students say their school provides them with AI tools to use for their schoolwork. Gen Z's use of AI is mostly steady, but enthusiasm for it has declined while skepticism has climbed. Gen Zers are more widely questioning AI's effects on their cognitive skills, particularly in areas tied to thinking, learning and creativity. Concerns among Gen Z that AI may undermine skill development appear to be outweighing its perceived efficiency gains. Fostering trust in AI among Gen Z will seemingly depend on demonstrating how AI can enhance rather than replace human talents.

Young adults are growing more skeptical and angry about AI

Young adults are growing more skeptical and angry about artificial intelligence. The share of Gen Z respondents who say they feel angry about AI rose from 22% last year to 31% this year, with the oldest members of the cohort expressing the most anger. The sentiment appears tied to fears that AI is shrinking opportunities for entry-level workers, a threat the youngest adults perceive more acutely than mid-career peers, The New York Times reported. More than half of respondents ages 14 to 29 said they regularly use generative A.I. Yet the share who felt hopeful about the technology fell to 18 percent from 27 percent since last year. Among young adults in the workforce, close to half said the risks of A.I. outweighed its potential benefits on the job, an 11-point jump from the previous year, while only 15 percent saw it as a net benefit. The survey of more than 1,500 people was conducted in the United States in February and March and also recorded concerns about the technology's effects on creativity and critical thinking, according to The New York Times. "In most of these cases, Gen Z-ers have become increasingly skeptical, increasingly negative -- from a place where even last year, they weren't particularly positive about it," said Zach Hrynowski, a senior education researcher for Gallup involved in the survey, according to The New York Times. A Nature study A study of 608 non-English major students learning In university English-as-a-foreign-language found that reliance on A.I. tools in learning correlated with greater interpersonal incompetence, according to a study published by Nature. Students with higher awareness of A.I. ethics showed a weaker link between tool dependence and interpersonal difficulties, researchers said. Controlled experiments indicate a measurable shift toward less exploratory thinking and a reduction in critical engagement when participants receive help from a chatbot. A report from the MIT Media Lab associated using tools like ChatGPT for tasks such as essay writing with reduced brain engagement and diminished learning over time, as measured by neural and linguistic metrics.