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Some young people worry that growing reliance on artificial intelligence could weaken learning, independent thought, creativity, human connection, and control over the future. That concern is real, but it is not proof that AI has already made Gen Z less capable or less human. Recent surveys show a generation using AI while expressing growing unease about what it may change.
Why the fear is about more than robots taking jobs
“Losing our humanity” is not one measurable outcome. In young people’s accounts, it points to several connected questions: Will people keep practicing how to think and learn? Will they trust their own ideas? Will human work still feel valuable? Will technology remain under human control, and will people continue turning to one another for support?
A 17-year-old quoted in a 2024 Center for Youth and AI report put the concern in personal terms: “I just hope that as AI gets more powerful, we don’t lose touch with what makes us human. I don’t want to live in a world where everything is just automated and we’re not needed anymore.” The statement captures a fear about purpose and agency, not a finding that those things have already disappeared.
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AI use and unease are happening at the same time
In Gallup’s 2026 probability-based web survey, 51% of 1,572 U.S. respondents ages 14–29 said they used generative AI daily or weekly. The survey was fielded February 24–March 4, 2026. At the same time, respondents’ feelings about AI had shifted negatively compared with 2025: 22% said they felt excited and 18% hopeful, while 31% said they felt angry and 42% anxious. Excitement fell 14 percentage points and hopefulness fell nine points; anger rose nine points, while anxiety was steady.
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These findings describe the surveyed U.S. young adults’ reported use and feelings. They do not mean every member of Gen Z uses AI, nor do they show that use caused the shift in sentiment. The age range also covers 14- to 29-year-olds, rather than every age sometimes included in definitions of Gen Z.
What young people worry AI could change
Learning and independent thought
In Gallup’s 2026 survey, 80% of respondents said it was very or somewhat likely that AI tools would make it harder for them to learn in the future. That is an expectation, not a test of learning outcomes. The distinction matters: a survey can show that young people fear losing practice or confidence without establishing that their skills have declined.
Respondents were also more likely to expect harm than help to some thinking abilities. Thirty-eight percent thought AI would harm their ability to come up with ideas independently, compared with 31% who thought it would help. Forty-two percent thought it would harm their ability to think carefully about information, compared with 25% who thought it would help. These responses suggest a concern about becoming dependent on a tool or accepting its output too readily, not evidence that either effect has occurred.
Creativity, agency, and work
When a system supplies a draft, answer, or recommendation quickly, a user may wonder whether they are still developing their own ideas—or simply selecting among machine-generated ones. The question is not whether using AI automatically removes creativity; the available Gallup findings measure young respondents’ expectations, not creativity before and after AI use.
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The same tension appears around work and purpose. Gallup found that employed respondents were more likely to say workforce risks from AI outweighed its benefits. The teen quoted by the Center for Youth and AI described the deeper worry: that automation could make people feel unnecessary. The findings concern perceived risk and imagined futures; they do not establish that AI has made human contribution obsolete.
Relationships and emotional support
AI use is not limited to school or information searches. Pew Research Center’s survey of U.S. teens ages 13–17 found that 16% had used chatbots for casual conversation and 12% for emotional support or advice. Its survey of teens and parents was fielded September 25–October 9, 2025, and reported in 2026. Common Sense Media’s first annual AI-use census, based on 1,204 children ages 9–17, reported that 86% used AI, nearly a quarter used it every day, and more than four in ten said a parent or guardian had never discussed AI safety with them.
These figures show that some children and teens turn to AI for personal as well as practical uses. They do not show that chatbots replace friendships, family relationships, or professional support, or that they cause loneliness. The surveys cover different age ranges and ask different questions, so their percentages should not be treated as a single measure.
Control, privacy, and trust
In a representative survey of 28,465 children ages 10–16 across 19 European countries, conducted from April 2025 to April 2026, around two-thirds regularly used AI tools. Four in ten worried that AI might surpass human intelligence in a way that would prevent people from retaining control. The study also describes concerns about privacy and data use; those concerns sit alongside national and socioeconomic differences in children’s digital experiences.
As EU Kids Online coordinator Elisabeth Staksrud cautioned, “There is no single European digital childhood.” A multi-country average can hide meaningful differences between countries, just as findings from European children cannot be assumed to describe U.S. teens or young adults.
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The studies measure different populations, behaviors, and outcomes. A percentage about chatbot use is not comparable to a percentage about anxiety, and a belief that AI could hinder learning is not a measurement of learning itself.
| Source and population | What it reports | How to interpret it |
|---|---|---|
| Gallup, U.S. respondents ages 14–29; 1,572 people, surveyed February 24–March 4, 2026 | Use frequency, feelings about AI, and expectations about learning, thinking, and work | Self-reported use and attitudes; not a causal test of AI’s effects |
| Pew Research Center, U.S. teens ages 13–17; teen and parent survey fielded September 25–October 9, 2025 | Chatbot use for information, schoolwork, entertainment, conversation, and advice | Survey descriptions of use; not evidence that chatbots displace human relationships |
| EU Kids Online, children ages 10–16 in 19 European countries; 28,465 respondents surveyed April 2025–April 2026 | Regular AI use and concerns about control, alongside country-specific digital experiences | Multi-country findings; the report lead author warns against treating European children as a uniform group |
| Common Sense Media, children ages 9–17; 1,204 respondents in its first annual AI-use census | AI use frequency and whether adults had discussed AI safety | A younger sample than Gallup’s; it does not represent all of Gen Z or establish effects on development |
| Center for Youth and AI / YouGov, U.S. teens ages 13–18; 1,017 respondents surveyed July 30–August 11, 2024 | 59% were concerned about AI-generated misinformation and 57% about advanced AI | Older evidence useful for the stated concerns, not a current estimate of prevalence |
Concern about AI is not unique to young people. In a 2025 survey of U.S. adults, the Imagining the Digital Future Center found that 41% expected human and AI co-evolution to change essential human traits for the better and worse in fairly equal measure; 25% expected mostly worse changes and 9% mostly better. That is adult context, not a Gen Z finding.
How to think about the concern without overstating it
- Separate use from impact. The fact that a teen uses a chatbot does not tell us whether it helps or harms that person’s learning, judgment, or relationships.
- Ask what task is involved. Getting a quick explanation, generating a first draft, searching for information, and asking for emotional advice raise different questions.
- Keep human judgment in the loop. Treat AI output as something to check, especially when accuracy, privacy, or consequential decisions matter.
- Preserve opportunities to practice. If a tool does every step of a task, it may leave less room for the user to exercise the skill the task is meant to build. The concern is plausible, but these surveys do not establish the size or cause of any effect.
- Do not assume one generation has one experience. Age, country, family context, access, and how a tool is used can all shape whether it feels useful or threatening.
The clearest answer: a real fear, not a proven loss
Young people’s anxiety about AI reflects understandable questions about whether people will retain skills, agency, meaningful work, trusted relationships, and control over technology. The surveys show those worries alongside widespread use. They do not show that Gen Z has already lost its ability to think, learn, create, empathize, or connect. The most accurate account is therefore not that AI is making a generation less human, but that many young people are trying to understand what human capacities and choices should remain their own as AI becomes part of everyday life.
Sources: Gallup; Pew Research Center; EU Kids Online; Common Sense Media; Center for Youth and AI; Imagining the Digital Future Center.
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