Gen Z is pushing back against AI – a reminder to all of us that the future isn’t written

Film director Martin Scorsese announced plans to work with artificial intelligence company Black Forest Labs on storyboarding — an announcement that faced swift online backlash. That tension played out more visibly at several university graduation ceremonies, where graduate students booed multiple commencement speakers praising AI, including property developer Gloria Caulfield, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, and music executive Scott Borchetta, who told the crowd to 'deal with it' and make AI work for them. Per The Conversation, research reveals a stark generational divide. A Gallup study found Gen Z largely unconvinced that AI enhances creativity or critical thinking, with the majority concerned about costs to learning. In contrast, a twenty twenty-five Thomson Reuters survey found Baby Boomers were the most enthusiastic about AI entering the workplace — a cohort that came of age when human labor carried far greater economic value. For younger generations already facing job insecurity and constant workplace disruption, the message to simply 'adapt' can feel dismissive. The broader question emerging from Gen Z's backlash: whether a future saturated with AI and algorithms is truly inevitable, or whether younger generations can reclaim meaningful agency over their technological futures.

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