Research

Report: Gen Z Students Expect AI to Negatively Impact Society

• By Rhea Kelly
• 06/18/24

Generation Z students (those born after 1997) have a number of concerns about artificial intelligence, according to a new survey conducted by the National Society of High School Scholars (NSHS). The academic honor society surveyed 10,072 high school and college-aged individuals across the country about their perspectives on AI, career aspirations, student debt, and more.

Fifty-nine percent of survey respondents said they believe that AI will have a more negative than positive effect on society in the next 10 years. And 55% said AI will have a significant impact on personal privacy. Nearly two-thirds — 62% — are worried that AI will take away jobs they're interested in.

Still, 64% of respondents said they are using AI in work, studies, or everyday life. The most common areas of AI adoption include brainstorming (cited by 39% of respondents), proofreading (33%), and data analysis (21%). Just 19% said they use AI for writing drafts.

Other key findings include:

• About a quarter (27%) of respondents expect to incur $10,000 to $50,000 in student loan debt from their college education. And 41% believe that student loan debt has or will prevent them from pursuing their passions.
• 49% expect to use an undergraduate degree "a great deal" in their future career.
• Top career fields of interest include medicine/health (24%), healthcare (22%), and engineering (18%).
• Respondents are looking for a workplace with fair treatment of all employees (ranked most important by 28%), work-life balance (25%), and corporate social responsibility (14%).
• 67% expect employers to offer in-person training. 

The full survey report is available on the NSHSS site.