Groowe Groowe BETA / Newsroom
⏱ News is delayed by 15 minutes. Sign in for real-time access. Sign in

46% of Gen Z Believe AI Is Already Conscious: Survey of 3,000 by GetSolved

globenewswire.com
GOOG The article discusses Gen Z's views on AI, including their concerns about AI labs concealing AGI and governments using AI secretly. While Alphabet is a major AI player, the article does not directly mention its products or performance, focusing instead on broader societal perceptions of AI. MSFT The article explores Gen Z's beliefs about AI consciousness and concealment by AI labs. Microsoft is a significant player in AI development, but the article does not directly reference the company's specific AI initiatives or market performance, focusing on general public sentiment. META The survey results on Gen Z's views on AI consciousness and government secrecy are presented. Meta is involved in AI research, but the article does not directly mention the company or its AI-related business segments, keeping the focus on broader societal perceptions. AMZN The article details Gen Z's perceptions of AI, including concerns about AI labs concealing AGI and AI's impact on employment. Amazon is a major tech company with AI investments, but the article does not specifically mention Amazon or its AI-related activities, focusing on general AI sentiment. NVDA The article discusses Gen Z's beliefs about AI consciousness and government secrecy. While NVIDIA is a key player in AI hardware, the article does not directly mention the company or its products, focusing on broader societal attitudes towards AI rather than specific market performance.

Vilnius, Lithuania, Sept. 28, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --

GetSolved surveyed 3,000 Americans aged 18-28 and found that 46% believe AI has already become conscious.

A further 45% said AI labs have already built artificial general intelligence and are concealing it. The highest-agreement statement in the entire study was political rather than technological — 64% said governments already use AI in ways they do not disclose.

The survey was conducted by GetSolved in August 2026. Respondents were 3,000 Americans aged 18 to 28 living in the United States. Participants were recruited through online panels using Random Device Engagement. The sample was not targeted by ethnicity or social background. Percentages are rounded to the nearest whole number, and multiple-selection questions may total more than 100%.

"The statements that draw the most agreement here are not about machines, they are about people withholding information," said Laura Kensington, Head of Behavioral Research at GetSolved. "Gen Z is less worried that AI will act on its own than that someone in charge of it is lying about what it already does."

64% of Gen Z Say Governments Already Use AI in Undisclosed Ways

Government secrecy drew more agreement than any other statement in the survey.

60% of respondents expect AI-enabled surveillance of citizens. 56% expect AI-driven election manipulation. 50% said whoever controls the most powerful AI will end up with more real power than any elected government.

74% of Gen Z Say Employers Are Replacing Staff With AI and Calling It Restructuring

Suspicion of employers is close to consensus.

58% said employers deliberately understate how much work AI already performs. Personal fear is far more divided: on the statement that AI will take their own job within five years, 46% agreed and 46% disagreed. Proximity changes that — 56% of heavy users fear for their own job within five years, compared to 33% of those who barely use AI.

46% of Daily AI Users Hide Their Reliance on AI From Their Employer

33% of all respondents said they conceal how much they rely on AI so they do not look replaceable. The share rises in step with dependence, from 15% among those who barely use AI to 46% among heavy users. Heavy users — daily use across multiple tools — make up 26% of the sample.

"The employees getting the most out of AI are the ones working hardest to make sure nobody notices," said Kensington. "That is a rational response to a workplace where three-quarters of a generation believe people are being replaced and told it is optimization."

80% Assume Anything Typed Into a Chatbot Is Stored Permanently

83% believe what they say near their phone shapes the ads they see afterwards. 62% actively avoid putting personal or work-sensitive information into AI tools. Caution runs opposite to exposure: 72% of those who use AI less than weekly avoid sensitive input, against 57% of weekly users. Adoption itself is near-universal, with 89% using AI at all and 66% using it at least weekly.

46% Say AI Will Make People Worse at Thinking

Across the full sample, 46% said widespread AI use will make people worse at thinking and learning, against 31% who said better. Splitting the same question by usage inverts it end to end. Among heavy AI users, 47% said AI will make people better at thinking and 33% said worse. Among people who rarely or never use AI, 6% said better and 64% said worse.

Self-reports point the same way. 53% said they now think more deeply about problems on their own since increasing their AI use. Light users hold the sharpest version of the contradiction: 68% of them said AI makes people worse at thinking, while 45% of the same group said they personally now think more deeply.

TikTok (49%) and YouTube (45%) Are Where Gen Z Hears About AI Risk

Social media videos outranks news articles (21%) and broadcast news (18%) by roughly two to one. Only 5% follow anyone specifically for information about AI risk, meaning these positions are ambient rather than researched.

Trust in institutions is correspondingly thin:

• Tech companies: trusted by 30%

• Media and journalists: trusted by 19%

• Teachers and professors: trusted by 17%

• Government agencies and regulators: trusted by 12%

• Social media influencers: trusted by 12%

• Nobody on the list: 21%

79% of Students Believe a Graded Paper Can Still Be Flagged as AI

Respondents currently enrolled in an undergraduate or graduate programme answered a separate set of questions.

79% of students believe a paper that has already been submitted and graded could still be retroactively flagged as AI-generated. 64% said AI detectors can no longer reliably distinguish human writing from AI-generated text. 66% do not trust their school's process for handling accusations to be fair.

Detection pressure is changing how students write. 57% always or often change their vocabulary or sentence style specifically to avoid sounding like AI. 59% worry that using AI purely for grammar could still get their work flagged. 46% always or often run their own work through "humanizer" tools.

"Detection anxiety is now producing the behaviour it was designed to catch," said Kensington. "Students who wrote their own work are running it through AI tools to prove that they did."

Frequently Asked Questions

What did Gen Z agree on most? Government secrecy about AI usage drew the highest agreement of any statement, at 64%. No technical or workplace question scored higher.

What do heavy AI users and non-users disagree about the most? 47% of heavy users said AI makes people better at thinking, against 6% of those who rarely or never use it.

What share of students worry about being falsely accused? 50% of students said they always or often worry about a false accusation. 46% always or often run their work through humanizer tools.

Where can the full results be found? The full study, including all charts and usage breakdowns, is published at https://getsolved.ai/blog/the-ai-conspiracy-theories-gen-z-actually-believes

About GetSolved

GetSolved is an AI detection and writing-integrity platform. The platform provides AI detection, plagiarism checking, paraphrasing, grammar checking and fact checking for writers, publishers, recruiters and students.

Media Details

Company Name: Getsolved

Contact Person: Chloe Bennett

Email: chloe@wmb-digital.com

Website: https://getsolved.ai/