Good luck banning AI
1 in 6 Gen Z adults use AI even when they’re told they shouldn’t
A decent number of Gen Z adults openly say they use AI for “cheating,” according to a new survey of young adults ages 18-28 exploring how Gen Z adults are thinking about AI and work, published in the Harvard Business Review.
The new data comes from a partnership between University of Pennsylvania’s Angela Duckworth, Benjamin Lira, Dunigan Folk, Lyle Ungar, Gallup, and the Walton Family Foundation. Duckworth is a psychologist and the author of ‘Grit.’
Setting the scene: Three quarters (74%) of young adults used an AI chatbot at least once in the past month. That’s a pretty noteworthy increase from last year, when 58% of young adults told Pew they had ever used a chatbot.
The down low: Of those young adults, 16% say they used it even when they were “specifically told not to.”
“By definition, cheating is breaking rules dishonestly. Leaving aside whether employers should ban the use of AI, our results indicate that many young workers are using AI anyway,” Duckworth, Lira, Folk and Ungar wrote in an overview of their findings for Harvard Business Review. “Thus, the relevant question isn’t whether young employees will use AI, but rather whether they will hide it from their employers.”
More, by the numbers:
65% of young adults are using AI as a substitute for Google
46% are using AI for help with writing
32% are consulting AI for advice
79% of young adults worry AI makes people lazier
62% worry it makes people less smart
The data reveals two core findings.
Almost as many Gen Z adults are using AI as say it makes people lazier —> so their relationship to AI contradicts how they feel about it
They’re going to use it whether they’re supposed to, or not —> AI bans can be futile
The Up and Up’s take: We need a rewiring. There are so many emotions wrapped up in AI, both from young adults’ point of view, but also when it comes to how their bosses, managers, and even parents feel about them using it. Often, they’re at odds.
The world is changing before our eyes, or so we’re told, and Gen Z is warned every day that as a generation, we’ll be left behind if we don’t ride the AI wave. But at the same time, there are rules around how young people are taught to use AI, and many of these restrictions seem to contradict the wisdom that they better adapt or risk future financial stability. Long story short, there’s a lot of pressure for young people to use AI, but it can come with stigma, or even shame.
This survey data on Gen Z and AI comes from Gallup and the Walton Family Foundation, who partner to regularly explore Gen Z, education, AI, and work. The Walton Family Foundation also supports my work on these topics.
Noteworthy reads
My latest for Vox, ‘The quiet reason why Trump is losing Gen Z’ (gift link! 🎁)
The film students who can no longer sit through films, Rose Horowitch for The Atlantic
Generation Z’s Battle of the Sexes, Future View, The Wall Street Journal
No, Young Men Are Not Returning to Church, Ross Douthat for The New York Times
Really insightful data on the gap between attitude and behavior here. The fact that 79% worry AI makes people lazier while actively using it shows how deeply confused workplace norms are around these tools. I've noticed in my own work the anxiety around "admiting" AI use even when it's objectively improving output. The 16% using it against explicit bans reflects whatwe'll see more of, rules that can't realistically be enforced.