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ZDNET's key takeaways
Gen Z is using AI for far more tasks than older generations.
Millennials, however, are more willing to spend money on AI.
Different generations cited different barriers to adopting AI.
The adoption and use of generative AI tools vary widely between generations, according to a recent study from media company Future.
Based on a survey of more than 2,000 people across the US and UK, the study found -- unsurprisingly -- that the heaviest users of AI tend to skew younger, between the ages of 18 and 40.
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The researchers also analyzed how each generation is using generative AI. On average, younger respondents tended to use the technology for a far greater variety of purposes. For example, 55% of Generation Z respondents said they've used generative AI "to create imagery/art," compared with 46% of millennials and smaller proportions of Generation X and baby boomers.
That trend held true almost completely across the board: the younger you are, the more likely you are to have experimented with generative AI in a greater number of ways.
In fact, there was only one domain where this pattern was broken: a slightly higher percentage of millennials than Gen Z (48% compared with 47%) said they've used AI to search for product recommendations.
Millennials also surpassed the other generations in their reported likelihood to buy technologies that are advertised as being powered by AI (33% compared with 24% of Gen Z, 21% of Gen X, and 10% of baby boomers).
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So while Gen Z seems to be leading the way in terms of experimenting with AI across a wide range of use cases, millennials appear to be the most likely to spend on AI products and to use AI for online shopping.
Barriers to adoption
There were also some generational differences in the reported barriers to adopting AI. Gen Z, for example, led the way in reporting that they were simply "happy without using AI," while baby boomers' main concern regarded privacy.
The authors of the new report also noted that almost all of the barriers listed in the survey were on the decline compared with an earlier Future study; far fewer respondents (20%) this time around, for example, said that they lack the necessary skills to use AI.
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But there was one notable exception to this trend: in the new report, 11% more respondents said they were "philosophically opposed to AI as a concept," suggesting a growing aversion to the use of AI across the board.