The data: 97% of Goldman Sachs’ Gen Z interns use AI in their personal lives, up from 86% in 2023, per the company’s annual intern survey.

How they’re using AI at home:

• 31% for writing support
• 19% to research or verify data
• 16% for advice or opinions on specific topics
• 14% for code verification

Human in the loop: For a majority of generative AI (genAI) use cases, Gen Zers prefer that real people stay involved, but there are exceptions.

• No AI. For creative work like art, music, and books, 54% said they prefer no AI involvement at all.
• Some AI is OK. Content curation, healthcare, customer service, and personal finance all ranked above 50% for respondents’ comfort with AI assistance as long as there’s human oversight or validation.
• AI only. 38% of respondents said they were good with shopping AI results with no human oversight—the highest percentage for AI-only. That being said, 48% still prefer shopping with human input.

While a significant number of Gen Zers are using AI for writing support, they still feel it’s important to keep humans in the equation.

Looking ahead: Human skills are still relevant and can’t be replaced by chatbots—for the most part.

• 66% of the interns surveyed think emotional intelligence is irreplaceable, and 48% feel the same about leadership.
• 2% think AI will replicate all human skills.

Just 22% believe critical thinking is a human skill that AI can’t take over. This could lead to an entire generation relegating that skill to bots, harming their ability to quickly adapt to immediate problems.

Our take: Gen Zers are the future of industry, and their stance on genAI is key to where AI is headed.

They believe keeping humans in the loop is essential and that there are human-only skills that AI can’t take over. For brands, this might mean leaning into the younger generation to train on genAI skills, understand where to get the most value out of AI, and what AI pilots can be cut or built on to improve efficiency.