Gen Z is pushing back against AI – a reminder to all of us that the future isn’t written - Stuff South Africa
Martin Scorseserecently announcedhe will be joining generative artificial intelligence (AI) company Black Forest Labs. He said he would embrace AI for storyboarding – the practice of creating a visual outline. . .
Martin Scorseserecently announcedhe will be joining generative artificial intelligence (AI) company Black Forest Labs. He said he would embrace AI for storyboarding – the practice of creating a visual outline in the early stages of developing a movie or TV show. The announcement was met with significantonline backlashand sentiments about how AI has the potential to “ruin cinema”. The announcement follows recent viral footage showing graduate students at multiple college ceremoniesbooing commencement speakerswho praised generative AI. Speaking at the University of Florida, property developerGloria Caulfield declaredAI is “the next Industrial Revolution”. The humanities graduates, already burdened with debt and job insecurity, responded with a torrent of boos. Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and Big Machine Records CEO Scott Borchettawere also booedas they sang the praises of AI at graduation ceremonies. Their bemused reactions reflect a growing generational divide when it comes to AI adoption. Who’s actually enthusiastic about new tech?It’s often assumed younger generations are the most enthusiastic adopters of new technologies. YetnumerousstudiesalreadyshowGen Z ispushing back against AI. A recentGallup studyfound Gen Z isnot convinced that AI enhances creativity or critical thinking, and the majority believe it may come at a cost, particularly to learning. In contrast, a2025 Thomson Reuters surveyfound the most “ambitious group” predicting AI would enter the workplace were baby boomers. Baby boomers and AIBaby boomers bridged the gap between analogue technologies like the typewriter and digital innovations like word processors. The labour market was defined by long hours and administrative filing. This explains why, according to survey data, many boomers see AI as a revolutionary tool. They think AI not only saves time, but is more intuitive than the technologies they once relied upon. Technology writerJosiah Gogarty arguesboomers also find AI amusing. He points to the rise of low-quality AI content orslop on Facebook, “lapped up by the platform’s older audience”. Yet for younger generations, AI presents an existential threat to their livelihoods. When booed by the attendant students,Borchetta doubled down: “Deal with it. Do something about it. It’s a tool, make it work for you. ”But his comments ignore the structural conditions that allowed older generations to prosper in ways younger generations cannot. Borchetta and other boomers came of age during a period when human labour carried significantly more economic and social valuethan it does today. The very systems that made these individuals wealthy have weakened labour security while removing the professional pathways that allowed them to thrive in the first place. The message “adapt or get left behind” therefore feels disingenuous to a generation now faced with a future defined by constant disruption and reskilling. Gen Z’s loss of self-worthThe issue is not just with a dire job market. Many young people are left feeling as though they no longer have any meaningful stake in a system that demands their compliance while it systematically engineers their obsolescence. As social psychologistShoshana Zuboff puts it, we are living in aharsh social habitat produced by a decades-old regime of neoliberal market economics in which our sense of self-worth and need for self-determination are routinely thwarted. Indeed, younger generations face a unique existential crisisas algorithms increasingly shapetaste, preferences, decisions and more. Teens are “living inside a contradiction”, encouraged to embrace AI while they report it’s hurting their learning. In the 20th century, baby boomers had greater agency over how much technology was integrated into their lives, and there was more opportunity to opt out. Studies showolder generations were able to evaluate their adoption of technology based on factors like “compatibility with lifestyle” and affordability. Email and mobile phones weren’t viewed as essential to everyday life, nor was upgrading to a clock radio or a TV with a remote control considered as “inevitable” as having an AI chatbot on your smartphone is today. Today, AI and algorithmsfeel unavoidableto younger generations, because they’re built into the very fabric of society. Tech CEOs arguethe dominance of AI is inevitable, but the people in power aren’t engaging in dialogue with younger generations. In an age when it feels as though we’ve resigned ourselves to a future determined by AI and algorithms, younger generations now want toreclaim agencyover their futures, rather than just blindly embrace AI. The vocal Gen Z backlash against AI should be a reminder to everyone that alternatives to an AI-saturated future are still possible. Siobhan Lyonsis a Scholar in Media and Cultural Studies, Macquarie UniversityThis article first appeared inThe ConversationAdd Stuff as your preferred source on Google