Gen X workers are more positive about AI than younger colleagues

Gen X employees are more positive about artificial intelligence at work than their younger colleagues, despite using the technology less frequently, according to a Glassdoor analysis published on Thursday, 27 August.

Forty-seven percent of AI-related comments from Gen X employees were positive, compared with 40% among millennials and 33% among Gen Z workers.

The findings challenge assumptions that older employees would struggle to adapt to AI. Instead, experience may be helping them use the technology more effectively while insulating them from some of the disruption affecting junior roles.

Glassdoor found a particularly wide divide within Gen Z. Comments from Gen Z men were 42% positive, while only 21% of those from Gen Z women were positive. The gap remained after the researchers controlled for differences in occupation and industry.

The analysis was based on reviews submitted by full- and part-time US employees. Glassdoor identified AI-related comments by searching for terms including AI, artificial intelligence, LLM, GPT and OpenAI. Comments appearing under the “pros” section were classified as positive and those under “cons” as critical.

Glassdoor did not disclose the number of reviews included, meaning the findings should not be treated as a representative survey of the entire US workforce.

Across generations, sentiment toward workplace AI has deteriorated sharply. AI mentions in Glassdoor reviews rose 240% between May 2025 and May 2026. In 2019, 81% of reviews mentioning AI were positive. This year, that share had fallen to 43%, while 53% were negative and 4% contained both positive and critical comments.

Concerns about replacement accounted for 20% of detailed negative comments. Other workers complained that employers were forcing them to use AI tools, allowing AI initiatives to distract from their core business or setting unrealistic productivity targets.

Employees who criticized AI were six times as likely as the average reviewer to mention layoffs. A quarter of reviews listing AI as a drawback also referred to job cuts.

The generational split comes as US employers increasingly favor experienced candidates. Indeed Hiring Lab found that postings for senior roles rose 14.7% in the year to May 2026, while entry-level postings declined 7.5%.

Indeed cautioned that AI was only one possible explanation for the shift. Remote work, higher interest rates and the reversal of pandemic-era hiring were also affecting demand for junior employees.

Younger workers remain much more likely to use AI. Deloitte research found that 76% of Gen Z respondents had used a generative AI tool in 2025, compared with 20% of baby boomers.

The contrast suggests that frequent use does not necessarily translate into confidence about AI’s effect on a career. Older workers may see it as a tool that strengthens expertise they already possess, analysts said, adding that younger employees are encountering it as companies automate the research, drafting and customer-support tasks through which people traditionally gained experience.