"According to a 2026 study from Gallup, the Walton Family Foundation and GSV Ventures, only 22% of Americans aged 14 to 29 say they feel excited about AI. That's down fourteen percentage points in a single year! Hopefulness has fallen nine points, to 18%. Anger has climbed nine points, to 31%."
"Even among Gen Z who use AI daily, the people you'd assume would be the most enthusiastic given they've folded the technology into their lives, excitement has dropped eighteen points and hopefulness eleven. The headline of the Gallup write-up puts it plainly: even the most engaged users of AI are less positive about it than they were a year ago."
"Those of us who've watched several waves of technology arrive over the years, the personal computer, the internet, the smartphone, might have expected the opposite pattern. Older generations are usually the cautious ones, the late adopters, the people muttering about how things were better before. The young are supposed to be the evangelists, pushing the rest of us into the future whether we like it or not. Not this time."
"Consider what Gen Z has lived through. They are the first generation to spend their entire adolescence on social media, and they have the receipts. The studies linking heavy social media use to negative impacts. The slow erosion of in-person friendships in favor of group chats."
Americans aged 14 to 29 report lower positivity toward artificial intelligence, with excitement falling to 22% and hopefulness dropping to 18%. Anger rises to 31% over a single year. Among Gen Z users who use AI daily, excitement declines further and hopefulness also decreases. The pattern runs counter to expectations that younger people would be more enthusiastic about new technology than older groups. Gen Z has spent adolescence on social media and has experienced documented negative effects, including reduced in-person friendships and increased reliance on group chats. This lived experience may shape how the generation interprets AI’s role and impact.
Read at Silicon Canals
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