Gen Z vs Millennials: How they really feel about AI agents

AI agents promise to handle multi-step tasks on a person's behalf, from booking dinner reservations to managing daily errands. But when Business Insider's Economy team compared notes across generations, the reaction split sharply along age lines.

The younger generation of reporters expressed consistent concerns regarding entrusting personal data to artificial intelligence. Ayelet Sheffey, senior education reporter, says she does not like when any personal or financial information is fed to a computer, as it raises privacy issues and her overall unwillingness to trust software with something significant.

Allie Kelly, a reporter, agrees that she can use software for her professional analysis, but she would never let it gain access to her e-mail, as information from their sources is often merged with hers.

Juliana Kaplan, a senior reporter, expressed more serious fears – possible conflicts of interest, when an agent recommends some credit card due to an existing business connection.

Her conclusion was blunt enough: due diligence would take as long as just doing the task herself.

Senior economy reporter Noah Sheidlower added that he wants to retain decision-making control until agents mature further, citing past reports of agents overstepping their intended tasks.

The team's millennial editors struck a different tone. Deputy editor Bartie Scott said voice-based agents could ease screen fatigue, particularly for briefing her on daily priorities, though she's waiting for trusted people to vouch for the technology first.

Senior economic data editor Andy Kiersz placed himself in the "mid-adopter" camp, open to using agents for research tasks like scanning economics paper abstracts once he's confident data breaches aren't a recurring risk.

A pair of millennials put Meta’s Muse agent through its paces. The magazine’s senior editor, Ryan Kailath, was unable to employ Muse when booking airline award trips due to difficulties in logging in and going through the process of two-factor authentication.

Senior reporter Jacob Zinkula spent ten minutes trying to book a restaurant for the holidays via Muse without success but is open to trying again in the future as improvements are made.