Gen Z in the United States is using generative artificial intelligence at roughly the same pace it was a year ago, but the generation is feeling less optimistic about it. A Gallup survey conducted Feb. 24-March 4, 2026, found that 51% of U.S. Gen Zers say they use generative AI at least weekly, even as excitement and hope around the technology have fallen and anger has climbed.
The survey of 1,572 people ages 14 to 29 found that 22% of Gen Zers use generative AI daily and 29% use it weekly, while 11% use it monthly, 20% every few months and 19% say they never use it. The sharpest shift is in emotion: strong agreement or agreement that they feel excited about AI has dropped 14 percentage points to 22% over the past year, hopefulness is down nine points to 18%, and anger has risen nine points to 31%. Curiosity remains the most common feeling at 49%, but it is no longer the whole story.
That split runs through the rest of the results. Among daily users, 69% say they feel curious about AI, 44% excited and 38% hopeful. Among Gen Zers who never use it, curiosity falls to 28%, excitement to 4% and hopefulness to 2%, while anxiety rises to 60% and anger to 59%. Daily users are less anxious than nonusers, with 28% reporting anxiety and 18% anger, a gap that suggests experience with the tools still softens some of the fear around them.
The broader pattern is that Gen Z is not turning away from AI, but it is also not embracing it with the confidence seen in earlier measurements. Gallup said Gen Zers are less inclined than they were in 2025 to believe AI improves efficiency in learning and completing tasks. That matters because the age group surveyed — people born between 1997 and 2012 — is the one most likely to encounter AI first in school and then in work.
The tension in the data is clearest among students. About half of Gen Z K-12 students think they will need to know how to use AI in their postsecondary education or future jobs, and nearly three in five believe they will be adequately prepared for daily AI use after high school. They are also more likely than Gen Z adults to say they use AI at least weekly, which points to a generation that is already living with the technology even as its feelings about it become more complicated.
The survey is part of the Voices of Gen Z study and defines generative AI as technology that can create new content from prompts, including writing, brainstorming or making images. In practice, the results show a generation that has settled into routine use, but not comfort. For Gen Z, the daily habit of AI is now easier to find than the enthusiasm that once seemed to come with it.
