The honeymoon is over. Young Americans who grew up immersed in technology are losing faith in artificial intelligence, with enthusiasm collapsing and frustration mounting over the past year.A survey of Gen Z respondents conducted by the Walton Family Foundation, GSV Ventures, and Gallup found stark shifts in sentiment. The share saying AI excites them dropped sharply from 36% to 22%. Hope declined from 27% to 18%. Anger surged from 22% to 31%.The trend is particularly pronounced among the oldest members of Generation Z, who are entering the workforce at a moment when AI is reshaping entry-level job prospects.Zach Hrynowski, senior education researcher at Gallup, attributes the growing anger to economic anxiety. "AI dimming prospects for entry-level workers" is driving the shift, he says. Unlike mid-career professionals experimenting with the technology, Gen Z faces what they perceive as a genuine threat to their near-term opportunities.Digital natives, by definition, should understand technology better than most. But that familiarity cuts both ways. "Gen Z is perhaps more acutely aware of AI's impact" compared to someone in mid-career "who is playing around with AI, but doesn't feel threatened by it to the extent that maybe Gen Z does," Hrynowski explains.
The Reluctant Acceptance
Yet skepticism hasn't translated to rejection. About half of Gen Z respondents report using AI daily (22%) or weekly (29%), essentially unchanged from last year's figures. Hrynowski interprets this plateau as "reticent acceptance that this technology is here to stay."Daily users do report higher levels of curiosity, excitement, and hopefulness compared to weekly users. But even they have lost ground compared to 2025. The data suggests Gen Z recognizes the necessity of engagement even as enthusiasm fades.That calculus is already shaping how young people view their future. Among K-12 students, 52% now agree they'll need to know how to use AI for college or their careers after high school, up from 47% the previous year. The message is clear: whether you like it or not, this is becoming non-negotiable.Perhaps most telling: 56% of high school students say they'll have the skills to use AI daily after graduation, compared to 44% just a year ago. Gen Z is preparing itself for an AI-dependent world even as it expresses growing doubt about the technology's value.The survey included 1,572 respondents aged 14 to 29 across all 50 states and D.C., conducted in late February and early March. For the full Gen Z sample, the margin of error stands at plus or minus 3.6 percentage points.
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