“Ugh, why is this even here?” When Snapchat rolled out its My AI chatbot in 2023, Gen Z users weren’t exactly thrilled. In fact, they rebelled – the app’s reviews flooded with 1-star ratings as teens and young adults balked at a virtual friend pinned to their chat feed.
“Why can’t [AI] understand this? Why can’t they read my mind?” some complained.
This dramatic backlash to a friendly chatbot highlights the complex relationship between Gen Z and artificial intelligence. They’ve grown up surrounded by AI – from the algorithms curating their TikTok feeds to voice assistants doing homework Q&As, but do they actually care about the AI behind the curtain?
AI – Study Buddy or Shortcut?
One area where AI’s influence on Gen Z has been profound is education. Today’s students have a buffet of AI tools at their fingertips, and they’re not shy about sampling them.
Need a quick summary of a dense reading? An app can do that
Stuck on a calculus problem? An AI tutor might help
It…
