Gen Zs AI Advisor ChatGPTs Role In Life Choices
Published: May 16, 2025 By Michaela Gordoni
Photo from Borna Hržina via Unsplash
Should Gen Z be turning to ChatGPT for advice on major life decisions? While the answer remains a topic of debate, this is precisely what younger generations are increasingly doing.
Gen Z Embraces ChatGPT for Life's Big Questions
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman highlighted this trend at Sequoia Capital's AI Ascent event earlier this month. "They don't really make life decisions without asking ChatGPT what they should do," Altman said. He elaborated that these young users often provide the AI with comprehensive context about their lives and relationships.
Altman described these Gen Z users as masters of the system. "They really do use it like an operating system," he explained. "They have complex ways to set it up to connect it to a bunch of files, and they have fairly complex prompts memorized in their head or in something where they paste in and out."
How Different Generations Interact with AI
Altman noted varying usage patterns across age groups. Older individuals tend to use ChatGPT more like a traditional Google search. Those in their 20s and 30s might use it for life advice, while college-aged individuals are the ones treating it akin to an "operating system."
Watch: OpenAI’s Sam Altman on Building the ‘Core AI Subscription’ for Your Life
The Data Behind AI Adoption by Youth
Recent data supports these observations. In February, OpenAI reported that college students were its most engaged demographic. A Pew Research report from last year found that 26% of U.S. teens aged 13-17 used ChatGPT for schoolwork. Furthermore, a study conducted earlier this year, as reported by Newsweek, revealed that 15% of 18 to 26-year-olds use AI to plan dates, and 12% turn to it for romantic advice.
In the professional sphere, a Pearl study from earlier this year indicated that 41% of Gen Z trust AI more than humans in the workplace. Half of them are more comfortable discussing a work issue with AI than with their manager. The study also found that Gen Z (83%) experiences the most anxiety of any generation when needing to ask a question, whether in person or online.
Related: ChatGPT Adds 1 Million New Users In One Hour After Adding This Feature
Rising Concerns Over AI Reliability and Trust
However, this growing reliance on AI is not without its critics. "The most glaring concern for employees is that they don't know when they are getting inaccurate information if they're relying solely on AI for answers," Pearl CEO Andy Kurtzig stated. He referenced a Purdue researchers' study showing ChatGPT answered programming questions incorrectly 52% of the time. "The fact that the most Gen Zers surveyed trust AI over humans is staggering, maybe even dystopian, and carries immense business implications."
Lawmakers Respond to AI's Growing Influence
As AI becomes more sophisticated and integrated into daily life, some lawmakers have raised concerns. Last year, California lawmakers introduced a bill that would require AI companies to remind users that they are interacting with a robotic system. Utah also passed a law requiring companies to disclose when a user is interacting with AI on their systems.
The Future of Personalized AI: A Double Edged Sword?
Despite the concerns, the push towards more personalized AI continues. "We're very early in our explorations here, but I think what people want...is a model that gets to know me and gets more useful to me over time," Altman envisioned.
Whether this increasing dependence on AI for life guidance is ultimately a positive or negative development... well, time will tell.
