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 AI Adoption Essentially Unchanged From 2025
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.
Negative Sentiment About AI Has Increased
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.
Familiarity Associated With More-Positive Perceptions
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.
Skepticism About AI’s Helpfulness Remains
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.
Gen Z Workers Wary of AI's Benefits
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.
More Students Think They Will Need to Know How to Use AI, Expect to Be Ready
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.
Implications
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.
Stay up to date with the latest insights by following @Gallup on X and on Instagram.
Learn more about how the Voices of Gen Z study works.
