The AI Generation Gap: Millennials Embrace AI, Boomers Are Skeptical

pcmag.com:

Generations are often characterized by their relationship with technology. Baby boomers were the first to grow up with TV, and Gen X came of age when VCRs and MTV became widely available. Millennials were the first “digital natives” completely surrounded by computing devices in their formative years, and Gen Z was the first group to grow up with social media. 

As a “Xennial”—born on the cusp of the Gen X and millennial generations—the cutting-edge tech from my youth is vastly inferior to what’s available to my 3-year-old daughter, a member of Generation Alpha(Opens in a new window)—those born in the early 2010s or later. Will hers be the group for whom AI-powered tools such as ChatGPT and Dall-E 2 will be common tools used in everyday life?

Time will tell if generative AI is mostly hype—or if it will relegate our current technology to the history books. But early data-driven insights suggest AI will make a big impact, at least in the workplace. In March 2023, I conducted an Aberdeen Strategy & Research study of 642 professionals to understand how they feel about AI-powered tools such as ChatGPT today and how they think these tools will impact us all in the future. Our research reveals that age plays a big role in people’s opinions on this topic. (Aberdeen Strategy & Research is owned by PCMag’s parent company, Ziff Davis.)

Across all age groups, most respondents (67%) believe AI will change society greatly, but expectations are mixed as to whether that change will be positive or negative. While 47% of all respondents said AI will have a positive impact on their line of work, younger generations are more upbeat about AI in the workplace than their older counterparts. 

Among millennial respondents and younger (born in 1981