Gen Z Turns on AI: Majority of Young Adults Now Fear Technology They Once Embraced
Summary
A new Pew Research Center survey reveals a stunning reversal: 55% of Gen Z adults now fear AI more than they embrace it, driven by job displacement anxiety, with 71% of all adults believing AI will eliminate jobs within two decades — pushing young workers toward trade careers and actively resisting AI adoption in the workplace.
Key Points
- A new Pew Research Center survey reveals that for the first time, 55% of adults under 30 are more concerned than excited about AI, placing their skepticism on par with older generations and marking a dramatic shift from younger generations' historically enthusiastic adoption of new technology.
- Job displacement fears are driving much of this anxiety, with 71% of all adults believing AI will lead to fewer jobs over the next two decades, and Gen Z is increasingly turning toward trade careers over traditional office roles in response, a trend even Nobel Prize-winning AI pioneer Geoffrey Hinton is endorsing.
- Companies now face a growing workplace challenge as Gen Z, known for pushing back against norms through 'quiet quitting,' shows active resistance to AI adoption, threatening the bottom-up demand that has historically fueled the spread of cutting-edge technology.