Asger Risom
New research suggests many Gen Z workers believe they are becoming overly dependent on AI tools at work, raising growing concerns that automation may weaken critical thinking and limit long-term career development.
A growing number of young workers now believe they rely too heavily on artificial intelligence to do their jobs, raising concerns that the technology may be weakening critical workplace skills instead of strengthening them.
New research suggests many Gen Z employees fear they are losing the ability to work independently as AI tools become increasingly embedded into everyday office life.
AI becomes a workplace crutch
According to a new study from software company GoTo and research firm Workplace Intelligence, half of all workers surveyed admitted they rely too heavily on AI tools.
Among Gen Z employees, that number climbed to 62%.
The report, cited by Fortune, surveyed 2,500 workers and IT managers about how AI is reshaping modern workplaces.
Perhaps more strikingly, 40% of younger workers said they no longer feel they could perform their jobs properly without AI assistance.
GoTo CEO Rich Veldran warned that younger employees may not realize the long-term consequences until much later in their careers.
“It’s only in the rearview mirror that folks will look back and say, ‘Perhaps I’m not learning some of the things I need to learn,’” he told Fortune.
The missing experience problem
One of the biggest concerns surrounding AI overreliance is that younger workers may skip the formative experiences traditionally needed to build judgment, confidence and expertise.
Tasks that once forced junior employees to research, strategize and solve problems independently can now often be completed in seconds through AI systems.
Critics increasingly worry that workers may become highly efficient at prompting AI tools without fully understanding the underlying work itself.
A 2025 Microsoft study referenced in the report found that excessive reliance on AI was associated with weaker critical thinking skills.
Veldran argued that AI works best when used to remove repetitive tasks — not replace human reasoning entirely.
“Don’t cede to it all human judgment,” he said.
The fear behind adoption
The report also highlights growing anxiety among younger employees who fear AI may eventually replace the very jobs they are using it to perform.
According to separate research cited by Fortune, some Gen Z workers have actively resisted or sabotaged AI rollouts inside their companies out of concern they are helping automate themselves out of work.
That tension is becoming especially pronounced as businesses continue pushing aggressive AI adoption strategies.
Some companies now actively encourage workers to maximize AI usage in daily workflows, while executives increasingly view AI fluency as a requirement for promotion and pay increases.
At the same time, more than 40% of CEOs surveyed by consulting firm Oliver Wyman reportedly plan to reduce junior-level positions because of AI automation.
A generational balancing act
The result is creating a difficult dilemma for younger workers entering AI-heavy workplaces.
Those who resist AI risk falling behind professionally, while those who rely on it too heavily may struggle to develop the deeper experience traditionally gained through entry-level work.
That includes learning how to make decisions independently, formulate strategies and solve problems without automated assistance.
“You learn from those experiences and that gives you confidence as you move up the chain,” Veldran told Fortune.
As AI systems become increasingly integrated into professional life, many companies now face a growing question beyond productivity itself:
How do workers develop expertise if machines increasingly perform the work that once built it?
Sources: Fortune
