5 reasons why Gen Z can’t stand AI

Artificial intelligence (AI) is the next big technological breakthrough. At least that’s what all the big tech companies would have us believe. Companies like GitHub provide AI coding tools that make programming easier, and Shutterstock recently released its own AI-powered image and video generation tool. At the same time, it’s no secret that many users despise AI, which is confirmed by the fact that people are getting rid of their ChatGPT app en masse.

But few people feel as burned by AI as Gen Z — in general, anyone born in the late ’90s and early 2000s (specifically between 1997 and 2012). This generation has never known a time without the Internet, and they now live in a time where AI is increasingly present in their daily lives. Here’s a look at some of the reasons Gen Z is turning its back on AI.

One of Gen Z’s biggest complaints about AI is its presence at every level of the job market. Countless companies are using AI to replace human workers, and those that aren’t are often using AI to sift through job applications. According to a recent Gallup poll, 72% of American workers believe that now is the “wrong time” to find a “quality job.” Certainly, people have feared for several years that AI would start to take over our jobs, but the current job market has only confirmed these fears.

And when we talk about the job market, it is impossible to neglect the impact of AI on this generation. In an interview with The Verge, cloud infrastructure engineer Sharon Freystaetter highlighted how many jobs in her field now require some knowledge of AI. Ironically, the article goes on to point out that Freystaetter left his job due to “ethical concerns and anxiety” regarding AI data centers. With this vicious cycle of over-reliance on AI in the job market, it’s no wonder that Gen Z finds itself in a true no-win scenario in the workplace.

The art industry is one aspect of the job market particularly affected by generative AI. If you’ve ever used an AI image generator, you know that it can produce images faster than most artists can block out a draft, and while it was easy to spot AI-generated images and videos just a few years ago, the technology has improved and is harder to distinguish. Some companies are trying to make it easier to label rendered artwork versus reality, including Spotify, which added a badge to help users differentiate real artists from AI. This isn’t always the case, however, which is why some users attempt to hold companies accountable.

Perhaps one of the most vocal subcultures in the anti-AI crusade is gamers, many of whom belong to Generation Z. It only takes one person to notice that a particular video game studio has used AI generative imagery, and gamers across the internet will rush to call for a boycott. The developers of “Call of Duty: Black Ops 7” were criticized for using generative AI images that mimicked Studio Ghibli art (shown above), while the team behind “Clair Obscur: Expedition 33” faced controversy simply because they used generative AI to create placeholder images that found their way into the full version.

Earlier this year, researchers at Cornell University published a study on the effects of using generative AI to write papers for you. According to the study, electroencephalography scans – which measure brain activity – showed that participants who used AI to write articles had less brain activity than when they used search engines to supplement their writing or simply relied on their own creativity. In fact, participants who used extended language models (LLMs) couldn’t even cite their own work. A similar Harvard Business Review study showed that heavy use of AI overloads brains, resulting in what the authors dubbed “AI brain spawning.” If you want to know what a future deprived of critical thinking skills might look like (i.e. Gen Z’s worst nightmare), watch “Idiocracy.”

While AI undoubtedly has educational benefits, a recent study from Collegeboard.org shows a worrying trend. Research showed that high school students’ use of GenAI tools increased from 79% to 84% between January 2025 and May 2025 – that’s only one semester! While the majority of school administrators seem to think AI tools are valuable, the report adds that about 40% of schools and districts ban AI for students.

A single Google Gemini prompt uses 0.24 watt-hours of energy, plus 0.26 milliliters of water, and emits about 0.03 grams of carbon dioxide. Multiply that by everyone in the world creating countless prompts on every AI model available, and you have a recipe for accelerated climate change. If there is a generation most concerned about the environment, it is Generation Z.

According to a Pew Research study, 32% of Gen Zers reported having “personally taken action to help fight climate change in the past year,” compared to 28% of Millennials, 23% of Gen Xers, and 21% of Baby Boomers and older. Ergo, Generation Z is more concerned about the causes of climate change, and AI is only accelerating the damage. A Guardian article cited a study showing that global carbon dioxide emissions from the AI ​​boom in 2025 were equal to New York City’s air pollution levels.

Not all pollution caused by AI is of environmental origin. The energy needs of data centers are so astronomical that they are straining power grids, leading to recurring power outages and higher electricity bills. In addition to this, people living near these data centers also complain about noise pollution. This is not enough to cause hearing damage, but it remains a constant and never-ending discomfort. The more data centers are built, the more people will suffer from these buzzing noises. And it’s a question everyone should pay attention to, not just Gen Z.

The general consensus among Gen Z (and many others) is that the concept of an AI-powered future is being forced upon us, and sometimes in the strangest ways and places. Just look at the place of AI in universities. More and more universities now offer AI courses and scholarships that teach students how to use AI (much to the chagrin of the Daily Pennsylvanian), and Arizona State University is taking it a step further by launching an AI platform that breaks up lectures into short clips. According to 404 Media, ASU faculty members were “disturbed” that their classes were used in this way and felt “blindsided or angry” because they received no warning.

AI oversaturation is so problematic that Gen Zers tend to express their displeasure at every opportunity. If a major tech executive attempts to proselytize his AI to students, he is almost always met with raucous boos. Recently, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt attempted to do just that and was immediately booed when he told graduate students at the University of Arizona to “adapt to technology.” And Schmidt was lucky compared to Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, who was the target of several violent attacks involving gunfire and Molotov cocktails.