Generational Divides in AI Adoption
The data on who's embracing AI, and who's holding back
Does your mom consult ChatGPT to compile a grocery list? Is your millennial sister obsessed with AI fruit videos? Has your boss seemingly adopted a very *robotic* sentence structure in the past year? Has your cousin sworn off Chat entirely? Today, we’re unpacking the varying rates of adoption of AI at work and in life, and why they might be.
🔦 Trend spotlight: The Gender and Generation AI Adoption Divide
There have been conflicting sentiments regarding AI use across demographic groups, particularly by age and gender. The much-discussed AI gender gap has Reese Witherspoon encouraging women to take charge of this new era. So much so that the Cut is now calling it The Girlbossification of AI.
It is true that women are adopting AI at work more slowly than men. Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In findings found that women were 22% less likely than men to be regular users at work. However, the men surveyed were significantly more likely to report that their managers encouraged them to use the new tech. Women were 32% more likely than men to worry they would be seen as cheating for using AI at work. A 2025 paper found that female engineers who use AI to write code may be perceived as less competent than male engineers who do the same, so it seems the AI playing field is not totally even.
On another hand, Gen Z’s overall AI adoption is steady and climbing. 51% of the generation in the U.S. reports using Gen AI at least weekly, but negative sentiments towards the tech have intensified over the past year. Excitement and hopefulness have dropped. Employed Gen Zers have strong concerns when it comes to the workplace and whether or not their jobs will remain because of AI.
Last year, Sam Altman claimed that “older people use ChatGPT as a Google replacement,” whereas “people in their 20s and 30s use it like a life advisor.” In January, the Harvard Business Review found something strikingly different from what execs and forums have been parroting about adoption: a deep ambivalence.
They found that 74% of young adults in the U.S. used a chatbot at least once a month, and they’re using it increasingly as a productivity tool rather than for social-emotional reasons. Even with an uptick in use, the study emphasized their worries about the long-term effects on human capabilities. Specifically, 79% of young adults expressed concern that AI makes people lazier.
There’s an emphasis on young people turning to AI for companionship, but seniors are turning to chat often as well. Concerns about data privacy were top of mind for older Americans, who are specifically most worried that AI will take their personal data.
When it comes to the reasons, of course, it’s complicated. AI isn’t arriving at us in a uniform package that is immediately digestible or accessible. It filters through different industries, cities, and generations at different rates. The technology might be moving fast, but adoption remains deeply, stubbornly human.
📚 What we’re reading
The Zuckerbergs Are Hiring a Lifeguard but Calling It a ‘Beach Water Person’ Looking for a summer job? Perhaps a lifeguard. No, “beach water person.” Well, the Zuckerbergs are hiring for just that.
The prediction markets are coming full circle and landing at insider trading. Prosecutors allege a Google employee made more than $1 million using nonpublic information to bet on who would be the most-searched people of 2025.
Think you know Stanford? Theo Baker’s new book How to Rule the World exposes some of the elite underbelly running around Stanford. As Slate puts it, it is a coming-of-age story, a campus story, and a newspaper story, but above all, it’s a horror story.
The NYT wants to test your knowledge of British insults. If you’re in the mood and not feeling like a Mardy Grip, test your skills here.
📅 Upcoming events
June 3-4 - Bloomberg Tech: Leveraging a globe-spanning team of tech journalists and the Terminal’s data-driven insights, Bloomberg Tech covers the content, capital and connectivity powering the industry’s most groundbreaking ideas.
June 5 - TC Sessions: AI 2026 - A deep dive into the future of artificial intelligence, featuring leading startups, VCs, and tech experts.
🧠 Words of wisdom
We want to hear how you’re adopting AI in your day to day, and more importantly, how that makes you feel. You can reach us at hatchline@thehatchagency.com