‘What happened?’: Why Gen Z workers are revolting against AI

Last Friday, a real estate executive stood in front of thousands of graduates to deliver a commencement speech. Gloria Caulfield was imparting wise words to the students from the University of Central Florida in a tradition that’s usually just vague platitudes with polite applause.

But not this time. “The rise of artificial intelligence,” she said, “is the next industrial revolution.” As she began her next sentence, an unexpected noise filled the hall. Slowly at first, then gaining momentum, the students booed her statement until it drowned out her speech.

Caulfield was shocked, holding up both hands as she tried to process why they were booing. She turned back to the other speakers on the stage with a confused look. “What happened?” she asked.

The audience continued to stir, and Caulfield asked if she could continue. She got one more sentence out before they erupted again. “Only a few years ago, AI was not a factor in our lives.” This time, it was loud cheers, and it slowly dawned on the speaker that she’d accidentally stumbled into one of the most surprising realities of the rise of this new technology: young people are souring on AI.

Research last month from Gallup found that young people in the United States, aged 14 to 29, had increasingly negative feelings about AI. In the past year, excitement about it fell 14 per cent to under a quarter of people, hopefulness fell 9 per cent to less than one in five, and anger increased 9 per cent to almost a third.

The evolving views of young people shouldn’t be a surprise, with AI upending education and the workforce at the same time, as new workers try to find jobs bearing the brunt of the shifts.

Most of the work delegated to AI is entry-level tasks that would have once gotten them a foot in the door. They’re also dealing with educational institutions that are struggling to keep up with the deluge.

So, is it any wonder that they boo when a tone-deaf speaker asks them to celebrate the very thing that’s challenging the value of their degrees?

“I think the scepticism is understandable,” says Brad Pulford, managing director of HP Australia and New Zealand.

“For many people, AI has arrived at a time when work already feels more intense, fragmented and demanding. Employees are navigating constant change, rising expectations and an endless stream of new tools and platforms, so there’s naturally some fatigue when AI is introduced as yet another thing to adapt to.”

Pulford sees the stage we’re at right now as part of a natural evolution. “We’re moving beyond the early novelty phase and into a much more grounded and realistic conversation about AI, and that’s actually healthy,” he says.

“People will ultimately judge AI based on whether it genuinely improves their day-to-day experience.”

There is a growing disparity between hype-enthusiasts, who breathlessly reel off its benefits, and the people it’s affecting the most. Gen Z, in particular, is watching as the familiar paths available to their grandparents, parents and even older siblings vanish into thin air. It’s no wonder they’re turning on it.

But no amount of booing is going to put the genie back in the bottle. Instead, we need to look at education reform to better prepare young people, workplace hiring policies to train them, and stronger regulations to slow it down to a manageable pace.

There’s a regular line that Barack Obama would often say to crowds whenever they booed something they disagreed with. “Don’t boo, vote!” he’d repeat, urging them to turn their enthusiasm into activity.

And that is precisely what we need right now: not just negative emotions, but hard decisions and firm actions. Because if we don’t collectively address the core of these problems now, while we’re still at the beginning, all the signs are pointing to a future generation that’s gearing up to revolt.