Gen Z is souring on AI even as they can't seem to quit it. A new Gallup study tracking nearly 1,600 Americans aged 14 to 29 reveals a sharp decline in enthusiasm for artificial intelligence over the past year, with hope plummeting and frustration mounting. But here's the catch - most young people say they still need to use it for school and work. The disconnect highlights a growing tension as AI embeds itself deeper into daily life while the generation most expected to embrace it grows increasingly wary.
The AI honeymoon is over for Gen Z, but the relationship isn't ending anytime soon. Gallup's newest research, surveying nearly 1,600 young Americans between February and March 2026, paints a picture of a generation growing cynical about technology they increasingly feel forced to use. Only 18 percent said they were hopeful about AI, while 22 percent reported feeling explicitly negative - marking a significant shift from the cautious optimism many expressed just a year ago.
The findings land as AI tools proliferate across educational platforms and workplace software, making them harder to avoid even for skeptics. Students report pressure to use ChatGPT and similar tools to keep pace with classmates, while entry-level workers find AI features baked into everything from email clients to project management systems. That forced adoption appears to be breeding resentment rather than familiarity.
What makes the data particularly striking is the contradiction it reveals. Gen Z - the cohort that grew up with smartphones and adapted to TikTok's algorithm before most adults understood it existed - isn't rejecting AI because they don't understand it. They're rejecting it precisely because they do. According to the Gallup report, young respondents expressed concerns about AI's impact on job security, creative authenticity, and the spread of misinformation.
The timing couldn't be more awkward for tech companies betting billions on AI adoption. Microsoft, Google, and Meta have all positioned their AI assistants as essential productivity tools, particularly targeting younger users who they assumed would embrace the technology most readily. Instead, they're finding a generation that views AI less as an exciting innovation and more as an unwelcome obligation.
That sentiment gap matters because Gen Z represents the workforce and consumer base that will define AI's long-term success or failure. If the digital natives are already exhausted by AI before it fully matures, companies may face adoption challenges that go deeper than user interface tweaks or feature additions can solve.
The research also suggests that exposure breeds skepticism rather than comfort. Unlike earlier technologies where familiarity reduced anxiety, regular AI use appears to heighten Gen Z's concerns about its limitations and potential harms. They're noticing when chatbots hallucinate facts, recognizing AI-generated content that lacks human nuance, and questioning whether efficiency gains justify the tradeoffs.
This doesn't mean Gen Z is abandoning AI entirely. The survey makes clear that many young people view it as unavoidable infrastructure rather than optional technology. Students who opt out of AI writing assistants risk falling behind peers who use them. Job seekers competing against AI-enhanced applications feel pressure to fight fire with fire. The result is a generation using tools they increasingly distrust - a friction that could shape how AI evolves or stalls in coming years.
For OpenAI, Anthropic, and other AI developers, the Gallup data serves as an early warning. Building powerful models matters less if the people expected to use them daily approach the technology with resignation rather than enthusiasm. The challenge isn't just making AI more capable - it's addressing the growing sense among young users that they're losing agency to systems they neither chose nor fully control.
The cooling enthusiasm also complicates the narrative that AI represents an inevitable technological revolution everyone will eventually embrace. Gen Z's pushback suggests adoption curves aren't guaranteed, especially when users feel technology is being imposed rather than offered. That distinction could determine whether AI becomes genuinely ubiquitous or remains a tool people use grudgingly when required but avoid otherwise.
The Gallup findings reveal a fundamental tension in AI's rollout - the generation most assumed to champion it is instead becoming its most ambivalent users. Gen Z's declining enthusiasm despite continued usage suggests companies can't rely on familiarity to win hearts and minds. As AI becomes less of a novelty and more of an unavoidable presence in education and work, tech giants face a harder challenge than building better models: convincing young people that AI serves them rather than the other way around. How developers respond to this sentiment gap may determine whether AI achieves genuine adoption or settles into begrudging acceptance.
