Half of Gen Z Would Rather Live in the Past: Survey

Gen Z doesn’t feel great about the state of the country right now. Among 18 to 29-year-olds, 80% say the U.S. is on the wrong track, 76% disapprove of how President Donald Trump is handling the job of president, and just 25% expect life for Gen Z to be better than for previous generations, according to a new survey from NBC News. Gen Z’s attitudes toward technology and history might be among the most interesting insights from the new survey, with nearly half of respondents (47%) saying they’d like to live in the past. That response was more popular than the number of people from that generation who said they’d like to live in the present (38%) and dwarfed those who wanted to live in the future (15%). It appears that at least some of this longing for the past is rooted in apprehension about emerging technology. 48 percent of respondents said they were either concerned or anxious about AI, either because it would require new skills to keep up or because it could force them to change careers. Twenty-seven percent said they’re not worried about AI and believe it won’t really affect their jobs. Just 25% said they’re optimistic about AI, believing it will allow them to do their job bette