The news: AI use is on the rise among Gen Zers—74% used an AI chatbot in the past month, up from 58% in 2025, per a study of nearly 2,500 US adults ages 18 to 28 conducted with Gallup, the Walton Family Foundation, and Harvard Business Review. 

Gen Z prefers to use genAI as a work tool, not a confidant or companion. 

• 65% treat AI as a Google replacement, 52% use it for work tasks, and 46% for writing.
• By contrast, only 23% have used AI as a friend, and just 10% see it as a romantic partner.

The challenge: AI adoption is growing, but comfort is not. Even as Gen Z leans on AI for search and content creation, many worry about what heavy use could cost them over time.

• 79% worry AI makes people lazier.
• 62% believe it makes users less intelligent.
• 65% say it weakens critical thinking.
• Only 15% cite hallucinations or misinformation as their top concern.

Young adults describe AI use as outsourcing thought, skipping the struggle that builds skill, and replacing dialogue with solitary prompts. As one respondent put it, “chatbots allow you to access information not process it,” per Harvard Business Review. 

Research echoes this unease. An MIT Media Lab experiment found lower brain activity and weaker recall among students writing with AI’s aid.

An October Wharton study found that people using large language models (LLMs) for research gained shallower knowledge and produced advice that was shorter, less original, and less likely to be adopted than guidance from those using traditional search.

Recommendations for marketers: Position AI tools as co-pilots, not autopilot. Focus on AI’s proficiency for brainstorming, summarizing research, drafting first passes, and comparing options—while keeping human oversight central to experiences.

Highlight collaboration over task automation with features like interactive prompts that require human input before progressing, and focus on productivity and time savings to reinforce how Gen Z is already benefiting from AI workflows.