Zillennials — a microgeneration situated between Generation Z and millennials — are young and digitally savvy. But when it comes to artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, they are not always enthusiastic. For example, not even half used voice-enabled smart assistants such as Apple’s Siri in the last year. This is especially surprising given the ubiquity of smartphones. Furthermore, the share of zillennials who believe that these assistants will one day be as helpful as humans has dropped significantly since last year.
PYMNTS Intelligence’s latest research reveals that zillennials’ complex relationship with AI extends to GenAI too. Fifty-six percent of zillennials recently used GenAI platforms even though about half of the age group thinks that GenAI technology is very open to misuse.
These are just some of the findings detailed in “Generation Zillennial: Voice Assistants and GenAI,” a PYMNTS Intelligence special report. This edition examines zillennials’ preferences and behaviors surrounding AI-based technologies. It draws on insights from a survey of 2,721 respondents conducted from June 5 to June 21.
Zillennial persona groups
To understand zillennials better, we asked each respondent how they would use an unexpected windfall equal to half their normal monthly income. We sorted them into four personas based on their answers.
Budget minded: 46% of zillennials
- Would spend extra money on essentials such as groceries, bills or debt
- $64,000 average household annual income
Wealth builders: 34% of zillennials
- Would save or invest extra money
- $81,000 average household annual income
Free spenders: 11% of zillennials
- Would use extra money to buy or do something fun
- $82,000 average household annual income
Givers: 4.8% of zillennials
- Would donate extra money to charities or gift it to friends or family
- $106,000 average household annual income
GenAI on the Rise
GenAI has quickly gained traction in the last year, particularly with younger consumers. Seventy-eight percent of zillennials are familiar with GenAI platforms, up from 62% last year. Moreover, 56% of zillennials used GenAI in the last 90 days. This places them slightly behind Gen Z but well ahead of millennials. In fact, zillennials are 21% more likely to have used GenAI than millennials. The gap is even wider when compared to older consumers.
Zillennials are about twice as likely as the average consumer to use GenAI frequently. This underscores just how quickly they experiment with the latest technology. In fact, 19% say they have used a GenAI platform daily or weekly in the last 90 days. Those who are givers are substantially more likely than average to use GenAI frequently, at 36%. Free spenders and wealth builders are also somewhat more likely than average to do so.
Zillennials are also much more likely than older consumers to see the benefits of GenAI. For example, 59% agree that GenAI is useful for accessing information quickly. This is substantially higher than the 47% sample average. While this is about 5 percentage points ahead of millennials, Gen Z leads here as well.
Voice Assistants? Zillennials Say ‘Meh’
The typical zillennial uses voice-enabled smart assistants but shows little excitement for these tools.
Most zillennials use voice-enabled smart assistants, such as Google Assistant, Apple’s Siri and Amazon’s Alexa. We find that 72% reported using one in the last year. This puts them significantly ahead of the overall consumer average and slightly ahead of Gen Z and millennials.
Zillennials were most likely to say they used the ones built into their smartphones, at 41%. While substantially higher than the overall consumer average of 33%, this reflects lukewarm enthusiasm considering the ubiquity of smartphones. Other leading types of voice-enabled smart assistants include voice-activated devices, voice-enabled mobile apps and car-based capabilities.
Looking to the future, 76% of zillennials believe that voice assistants will be as smart and reliable as people. This makes them significantly more optimistic than the average consumer, at 60%. However, skepticism is growing. Last year, 87% of this generation agreed that voice assistants will rival real people, highlighting declining faith among consumers that this technology is improving.
Zillennials pass on voice-assisted in-store shopping.
Consumers, even younger ones, show little interest in using voice-enabled technology for shopping in person. Just 20% of zillennials say they would like to have a voice-activated AI assistant for in-store shopping that fills a shopping cart and arranges for same-day delivery. That said, this likely reflects the fact that many young consumers prefer to shop online. In fact, 37% of the generation say they do all their retail shopping online.
Despite advances in voice-enabled technology, relatively few zillennials feel confident about using voice assistants for emergencies. For example, even when the voice assistant is known to be smart and reliable, only 49% would be very or extremely likely to trust it to get help after a car accident. Even in lower-stakes unplanned scenarios, such as asking a spouse to suddenly pick up kids because a doctor’s appointment ran late, most zillennials and other younger consumers express a lack of confidence in voice assistants.
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PYMNTS Intelligence is the leading provider of information about zillennials. To learn more about this important consumer demographic, read our previous reports:
Methodology
“Generation Zillennial: Voice Assistants and GenAI,” a PYMNTS Intelligence exclusive report, is based on a survey of 5,215 responses conducted from June 5 to June 21. The report examines the use of GenAI and voice assistants among zillennials. The study includes a census-balanced poll of 2,721 U.S. consumers, plus an oversampling of 1,201 more consumers born between 1991 and 1999 to facilitate a deeper analysis of this generational group. Population weights are utilized to ensure analysis remains representative of the U.S. adult population.
