Mr Branding: This Survey Reveals the Generational Gap in AI Acceptance

Friday, June 2, 2023

This Survey Reveals the Generational Gap in AI Acceptance

Each generation tends to have a closer relationship to the technology that arises during its existence than generations that came before. This can be seen with how millennials treat social media and smartphones as compared to baby boomers, and it is no different with how AI is perceived by members of various generations as well.

PCMag conducted a survey recently that revealed the wide gulf between how different generations feel about AI. With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that 62% of Millennials think that AI will have a positive impact on their line of work, while 45% of Gen X and 38% of Baby Boomers felt the same way.

The clear negative bias among older generations is understandable, since they are less capable of understanding these innovations than might have been the case otherwise. It seems like the younger generations are already adopting AI such as ChatGPT in various aspects of their life as well with all things having been considered and taken into account.

For example, 45% of Millennials said that ChatGPT allows them to find information faster than an average search engine. Just 28% of Gen X and 16% of Baby Boomers said the same. The widest proportional gap could be seen with respect to how AI can be used to write long form content. 21% of Millennials stated that it was easy to composed written works including all manner of articles with ChatGPT, which is nearly three times the proportion of Gen X and Baby Boomers who said the same.

62% of Millennials feel like the rise of AI will be just as revolutionary as the creation of the internet, and 59% said that AI will surpass human beings in a few specific areas during their lifetime. The difference here is not quite so pronounced, with 58% of Gen X and 51% of Baby Boomers agreeing that AI is on par with the internet, and 46% and 41% respectively felt that AI will become superior to humans in certain walks of life.

However, nearly twice as many Millennials believe that they will be working alongside AI in the next five years or so. 47% of Millennials felt that this was a likely possibility, whereas just 26% of Gen X and 23% of Baby Boomers agreed with this notion.

Generally speaking, Baby Boomers tend to have a much more negative view of AI because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up replacing them in their jobs. 70% of Baby Boomers felt that their employment was at risk due to the rise of AI, and Gen X was also close with 63%.

Millennials are less likely to fear AI, with just 57% concerned that they will lose their jobs, but that is still a startlingly high proportion. Clearly the gap is not nearly as wide as many might have assumed, and it will be interesting to see how it changes from here on out as AI continues to advanced and its full potential starts to become apparent. The opinions of Gen Alpha will also be important to consider since they will grow up around AI.