Artificial intelligence has gone from a novel curiosity to a required skill in just about every workplace. But its adoption has been uneven, creating a fluency gap that could potentially threaten workplace collaboration and professional development.
A 2025 survey by the London School of Economics found that AI usage is far more common among Gen Z (83 percent) and Millennial (73 percent) workers than Gen Xers (60 percent) and Baby Boomers (52 percent). That generational divide of about 30 percentage points feels more significant when looking at the ways in which each generation is using the technology.
“Gross oversimplification, but older people use ChatGPT as a Google replacement,” OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said at AI Ascent 2025. “Maybe people in their 20s and 30s use it as a life advisor or something. And then people in college use it as an operating system,” connecting it to other data sources and using it in multiple aspects of their life.
How Do Different Generations Use AI?
According to a London School of Economics survey, 83 percent of Gen Z and 73 percent of Millennials use AI at work, compared to 60 percent of Gen X and 52 percent of Baby Boomers. Younger workers are more likely to use AI for daily advice — sometimes instead of asking a coworker a question — while more experienced professionals tend to use it as a search or productivity tool.
As more workers adopt AI, it’s important to understand how each generation is using it and how these dynamics could define the future of work. The number of jobs requiring AI literacy grew 70 percent in the past year, according to a report published by LinkedIn. In many sectors, AI skills are starting to be seen as a baseline competency, on par with computer or internet proficiency.
As with any gap, this lopsided AI adoption has the potential to create an uneven playing field. Baby Boomers who aren’t as fluent in AI skills may be seen as less productive or innovative compared to their younger AI-using counterparts. Gen Z, meanwhile, may be using AI to make up for a lack of professional development opportunities available, which in turn could cause them to miss out on learning opportunities and relationships that could help them advance in their careers.
Why Do Younger Generations Use AI More?
Younger generations’ higher adoption of AI is not surprising considering that they often lead the way in adopting new technologies. But this trend could also be shaped by who receives AI training, what type of work it’s used for and the anxiety younger workers feel in an AI-disrupted job market.
They Receive More AI Skills Training
The generational differences in AI adoption could be explained by training disparities. The London School of Economics study found that Gen Z employees were far more likely than Millennials , Gen Xers and Baby Boomers to have received AI skills training in the past month. Across all generations, employees who were taught how best to use AI were overwhelmingly more likely to adopt the technology in their job, which suggests organizations could increase adoption among older employees simply by training them.
Their Jobs Are More Suited to AI
Generational expert Kim Lear told Built In that the generational differences in adoption could also be due to career progression. Early- to mid-career roles typically involve writing briefs and other work that is more aligned with AI’s capabilities, whereas older employees in leadership roles may find that their work, like building relationships and managing teams, is less conducive to automation.
“I don't think that it's because Baby Boomers and Gen Xers are opposed to it,” she said. “I think there are just aspects of their work that still require quite a bit of human-to-human contact.”
They Don’t Want to Fall Behind
Gen Z is entering the working world at a time when corporate leaders are relentlessly promoting AI’s potential for productivity, so they may also have a “fear of falling behind and becoming irrelevant before they even get a foothold in their career,” Lear said, which could in turn be driving their AI usage.
So while Gen Z may be using AI more, they also have mixed emotions about its impact. While nearly 80 percent of Gen Z adults use AI, a 2025 Gallup poll found that more than 53 percent felt anxious about it, and only 26 percent felt hopeful about it. Compared to other generations, Gen Z is the least likely to believe that AI skills will help them grow in their career, according to a LinkedIn survey.
AI is also seen as a culprit for job insecurity among Gen Z workers. A Stanford University study found that employees aged 22 to 25 in AI-exposed occupations saw a 16 percent relative employment decline. But even though AI may make entry-level jobs redundant, Gen Z workers also hope AI can help them level-up by filling knowledge gaps and increasing their productivity. According to a MIT Sloan and Stanford University study, inexperienced workers benefit more from generative AI tools than their more experienced counterparts.
How Gen Z’s AI Use Impacts Workplace Collaboration
Gen Z, in particular, is more likely to use AI not just for automating routine tasks or brainstorming ideas, but in lieu of talking to their coworkers. TalentLMS study found nearly half of Gen Z respondents turn to AI instead of their colleagues or managers when it comes to work-related questions — and roughly the same share of workers believe AI gives better guidance than their manager.
This may be an indictment on the lack of resources allocated to managing and mentoring Gen Z workers. Or it may signal a deeper divide in communication styles. ResumeGenius study found that more than half of Gen Z workers use AI for advice on communicating with a manager or coworker, or to clarify the tone or meaning behind workplace communication.
Gen Z’s preference for AI over workplace communication might also indicate a lack of psychological safety — they may worry about being judged for not knowing something. Those concerns may be partly justified; Lear said she often hears from Millennial managers who complain about Gen Z’s lack of resourcefulness on the job.
“If [Gen Z workers] feel like it will give them a leg up to showcase resourcefulness, to not have to be a burden to managers and to figure things out for themselves, they’ll [use AI] unless there is clear leadership messaging about why they shouldn't,” Lear said.
Gen Z may also be turning to AI because they don’t know who to ask, when it’s appropriate to ask or whether asking will slow them down, Anthony Belluccia, senior product scientist at The Predictive Index, told Built In. Too often, institutional knowledge “lives in people’s heads instead of systems,” he said, so companies should see this as an “opportunity to better architect how we share knowledge.”
But while Gen Z may get a serviceable answer from ChatGPT or Claude, they’re likely missing out on critical context about the project, best practices for handling a specific situation or institutional knowledge that could be useful in the future. They are also missing out on opportunities to develop interpersonal skills and build relationships, which are often a deciding factor in who gets promoted or mentored.
“I’ve seen brilliant people who can do these amazing things with AI, but where they fall down is with human discernment and leadership — and that just comes with reps and experience,” Jeri Doris, chief people officer at Justworks, told Built In. “I think mentorship is going to be even more important in the future, because we’re going to have this gap of entry-level roles and junior roles in which you would have gotten coaching and managing.”
Breaking Down the Generational Differences at Work
The modern workplace now spans four generations — with employees ranging from their 20s to their 70s — and they all process information differently based on their life experiences, technological tools and professional judgment. Gen Z, for example, grew up with social media, developing a familiarity with technology that has led to a certain level of trust.
“Digital natives will trust the screen more than trusting the feeling, the understanding and the context of a room,” Bob Hutchins, an AI strategist and the founder and CEO of Human Voice Media, told Built In. “I’m not saying that Gen Z can’t think critically or understand context. I’m saying their default toolset discourages it by offering a shortcut, by using technology, simply because that’s the toolset they have available to them based on their life experience to this point.”
The recent emphasis on productivity has led many young workers to turn to AI for a quick solution that fills the void but lacks substance. But as a society, we are losing the muscle that allows us to be patient and contemplative, Hutchins said. As a result, we are losing the context, creativity and critical thinking that only humans can provide.
While Gen Z may have a higher fluency in AI, Hutchins argues that Gen X and Boomers have a longer attention span, as they were raised to digest information through reading, conversation and critical thinking. He said older generations “are much more likely to have the skepticism and systemic, abstract thinking needed to audit AI effectively.”
“We need to design workflows that force critical thinking, context awareness and discernment back into the loop, or else we risk simply giving everything back over to machines,” he said. “I don’t think any of us want that.”
Bridging the Gap With Intergenerational Partnerships
Organizations can tap the technological strengths of their younger workers, as well as the professional judgment, strategic thinking and lived experiences of older workers, by pairing them together. Through these working relationships, a Gen Z or Millennial employee could use their knowledge of prompt engineering and AI integrations to “turbocharge the workflow,” Hutchins said, and the Gen X or Baby Boomer employee could “audit” the process, infusing context and strategy into the work.
In auditing the workflow, a more experienced employee might force a younger colleague to pause and ask critical questions, like whether the AI-generated output is consistent with their brand voice, whether the proposed solution adequately addresses a client’s problem or if a strategy is consistent with the organization’s values.
This cross-generational collaboration can lead to each group learning new skills and thought processes, while also helping each demographic to recognize their own blindspots. Indeed, the London School of Economics survey found that AI teams with more generational diversity are 11 percent more likely to be productive than teams with low generational diversity.
“You get the velocity of a 23 year old and the experience of a 50- or 60-year-old,” Hutchins said.
Intergenerational pairing is just one way organizations can incorporate AI training into real-world scenarios and show its potential utility. What’s important is that AI is treated as a shared problem-solving asset, Anthony Belluccia, senior product scientist at The Predictive Index, told Built In, adding that “collaboration improves when AI is “treated like a bridge between experience, judgment and speed.”
Another thing for leaders to consider in AI training: Showing is better than telling. By incorporating use cases and examples from early adopters, organizations can help other employees think of how they can incorporate this technology into their own workflows, Doris said. Employers might also consider tailoring their communications and use cases to resonate across all age groups, she said.
“Once the different generations all learn it, my hope and my mission is that we can bring their years of experience, wisdom and life, and use the AI to be an augmentation and an amplification of those things — not a complete substitute,” Hutchins said.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which generations use AI the most at work?
Gen Z (83 percent) and Millennials (73 percent) use AI at higher rates than Gen X (60 percent) and Baby Boomers (52 percent), according to a 2025 London School of Economics survey.
Why do younger workers use AI more than older workers?
Research shows that younger workers are more likely to receive AI training, work in roles aligned with AI capabilities and feel pressure to stay competitive in an AI-driven job market.
Are AI skills becoming a requirement for many jobs?
Yes. The number of jobs requiring AI literacy grew 70 percent in the past year, according to a LinkedIn job market report, and AI skills are increasingly viewed as a baseline competency, similar to computer or internet skills.
How can organizations bridge the generational AI gap?
Companies can pair younger workers’ AI fluency with older workers’ judgment and experience, creating intergenerational teams that are better at double-checking AI outputs.
