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The Gen Z generation has gotten a bum rap from older generations and business leaders, leaving them feeling misunderstood and vilified. They are criticized for having too many rules, refusing to comply with corporate demands, being oppositional and lacking etiquette, reliability and flexibility. In one study, 45% of hiring managers describe them as difficult to manage, lazy and irresponsible. Employers are firing them just months after they’re hired. It’s no wonder that a recent study reveals that Gen Z trust AI over humans as their work mentors.
New Study Shows Gen Z Trust AI Over Humans
Experts predict Gen Z will make up nearly 30% of the workforce this year, so their mental health is crucial to the American workforce. Many leaders believe Gen Z are facing a serious mental health crisis because of the misalignment of their values with the established generations. According to Gallup, they have the poorest mental health of any generation. But a new report shows surprising results in terms of Gen Z’s reliance on their fellow human beings in the workplace.
The recent study from Pearl.com, conducted through Censuswide between December 17 and December 20, sought to discover American’s overall comfort levels with asking questions on AI search engine platforms, compared to real-life human beings. Specifically, the research asked the question, “Could tech help the Gen Z generation solve the apathy and misalignment they feel in the workplace or only exacerbate these issues?”
The findings reveal 28% of Americans still feel more comfortable discussing issues at work with their managers than with AI. But some people have a fear of asking questions, and it’s driving them towards AI search engine platforms, increasing the risk of liability for the platforms and the risk of harm for people using them. Key findings show that Gen Z , in particular, are more likely to rely on AI at work than other generations:
- 41% of Gen Zers trust AI more than humans.
- 50% of Gen Z feel more comfortable confiding in AI about a work issue than their manager, while only a third of Boomers do.
- Gen Z uses AI an average of 12 times a week, compared to seven for Gen X and four for Boomers.
- 83% of Gen Z experience anxiety when they need to ask a question in person or online–the most of any generation.
Concerns Over Gen Z Trust AI Over Humans
The finding that Gen Z is turning to AI for financial planning, parenting, relationships and mental health raises concerns that their over reliance on AI could harm their careers. Pearl CEO Andy Kurtzig warns that while AI can democratize access to job advice, Gen Z should be wary of fully betting on it and instead lean on human expertise to train and fact check AI and craft the best workplace advice alongside it.
“The most glaring concern for employees is that they don’t know when they are getting inaccurate information if they’re relying solely on AI for answers,” Kurtzig asserts. “Purdue researchers presented a study showing ChatGPT got programming questions wrong 52% of the time, while our report finds that 41% of Gen Zers trust AI more than humans (versus 26% saying the opposite and 31% undecided). The fact that the most Gen Zers surveyed trust AI over humans is staggering, maybe even dystopian, and carries immense business implications.”
Marcie Merriman, cultural insights & customer strategy leader at EY, pinpointed another obstacle when I spoke with her for a previous story in Forbes.com. She told me that Gen Z lack trust in the outdated, cumbersome and inefficient systems in today’s workplace that are a stark contrast to the cutting-edge consumer technologies they’ve grown accustomed to throughout their lives.
Merriman explains that “Gen Z—a cohort raised in an era of instant gratification and seamless digital experiences, from ordering groceries to planning social events with a simple tap on their smartphones—may find their expectations for a fluid and efficient work environment significantly unmet by these antiquated platforms and practices.”
Kurtzig agrees. “Tech giants have created huge hype around the capabilities of Gen AI in the workplace but have consequently misled workers–especially earlier adopters in younger generations–about the extent to which its accuracy can be trusted, he points out. ”Overall, trust in these nascent AI models isn’t congruous with their ability to generate accurate answers, and the impact of this in the workplace is potentially job threatening. Employees are at risk of using un-vetted or hallucinated responses on projects, which could cause anything from a small miscommunication to irreversible financial losses, especially when managerial oversight is cut out of the process.”
Balancing The Trend Of Gen Z Trust AI Over Humans
Kurtzig argues that AI is a powerful tool, but it’s not a substitute for human judgment. Companies that fail to balance the two will pay the price. He offers three tips for employers to navigate Gen AI use among younger workers:
- Acknowledge that employees may want to use AI. “Most knowledge workers are already using AI in some part of their daily workflow. Some feel they have to hide it because of ambiguity around company AI usage rules or restrictions. Start by acknowledging that AI does have a function in the workplace but must not be fully trusted.”
- Explain the dangers of using AI for work. “Caution employees that AI can often provide inaccurate information that may compromise the work they have done themselves. Use of unauthorized Gen AI tools also runs the risk of compromising sensitive company information if employees share documentation or proprietary details.”
- Clearly delineate where AI may be used. “Designate AI-appropriate projects and tasks, such as proofreading, general idea brainstorming, language processing or language summarization. Encourage employees to interrogate every response from Gen AI and refrain from leaning solely on AI for client-facing work, where possible. Curate an approach that combines the best from AI and humans to generate the best output.”
Kurtzig believes the finding that Gen Z use AI to avoid communicating with coworkers and managers has professional and interpersonal consequences. “Being afraid to ask questions can lead to poor communication and teamwork in general, but it may also be responsible for the growing gap we are seeing in trust in professional services,” he told me. “Using AI for simple queries and tasks might be low-risk, but when it comes to high-stakes business initiatives like forecasting profit and ensuring compliance, AI alone can’t be trusted.”
If more companies pay attention to Kurtzig’s three tips, perhaps companies can win over the younger generation from Gen Z trust AI over humans to Gen Z trust humans over AI as their work mentors.