A growing share of Gen Z is souring on artificial intelligence, according to new Gallup research cited by CBS Boston. While 51% of Gen Z report using AI at least weekly, enthusiasm is ebbing: only 22% say they’re excited by AI, down 14 points from last year, and those who are hopeful fell 9 points. Anxiety remains elevated at 42%, and anger has climbed to 31%, up 9 points—what Gallup’s Zach Hrynowski calls a “meaningful shift.” The data help explain why several commencement speakers praising AI faced boos this spring. Psychologist Julie Lee says young people feel the technology is being imposed without sufficient empathy or guardrails. On MIT’s campus, students voiced a spectrum of views—from optimism about AI’s promise in drug discovery to concerns about cognitive offloading, corporate overreach, and weak accountability. The technology’s trajectory is clear; whether Gen Z embraces or resists it remains an open question pending further polling.
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