Students and experts said employer demands for AI fluency were at the heart of the rift.
“It’s a feed-or-be-eaten mentality,” says Gavin Federiso, a 20-year-old philosophy major who studies AI policy at Tufts University. “We all hate the fact that AI is being used, but [more so] I hate the fact that I feel the need to [use it] at this point. “
Over the past year, Boston’s job market has also seen a surge in demand for AI skills, including entry-level positions, as sentiment toward AI has become increasingly negative among students and young professionals.
Job search platform Indeed mentions AI capabilities Job openings in Boston nearly tripled in less than a year, significantly outpacing national growth along with other tech hubs like New York City.
In an April survey of about 180 companies in sectors from manufacturing to finance, the National Association of Colleges and Employers reported that more than a third of junior-level positions now explicitly require the use of AI tools, up from about 10% last fall.
This includes deploying AI to analyze data, create reports, create visual representations and slideshows, assist with forecasting, and automate simple tasks like sending emails and scheduling.
Khushi Ketwani, a 22-year-old recent graduate from Northeastern University, expressed serious concerns about AI’s impact on the environment and data privacy, saying, “In this day and age, even if you don’t like AI, opting out is not an option.”
After AI skills became a common feature in job interviews this spring, Ketwani started using chatbots more, experimenting with ways to create effective prompts and review output. But in the end, she rejected a job offer that required the use of AI in favor of a position that better aligned with her values.
A Quinnipiac University poll in March ranked Gen Z as the generation most concerned about the impact of AI on employment, followed by Millennials, Gen X, and Baby Boomers.
Their arguments against AI are many. These include privacy concerns, lack of trust in AI results, and concerns that AI is eroding creativity and human relationships. Gen Z also tends to be more concerned about the environment and the negative effects of AI’s massive energy demands.
Despite these reservations, Gen Z still uses AI tools more than any other age group, especially in professional settings, according to a 2025 study by Deloitte and Pew Research Center.
“Generation Z” [is] This is a generation that values values very much. “For a lot of young people, that’s a very difficult compromise to make,” said Ann Richard, a career coach and doctoral student at Boston University who studies the school-to-work transition. “But if I was presented with an opportunity to make some life-changing money and had to use AI in a way I would never have used in my personal life, would I consider it?”
Experience with and readiness to explore artificial intelligence tools is a prerequisite for starting a career in a variety of roles, from communications, business management and marketing to technical roles, according to recruiters at top Boston companies.
Recruiters at Needham-based consumer goods company SharkNinja said they observed anxiety and dissatisfaction with the use of AI among some junior employees and interns and created a program to acclimate employees to an all-in AI culture that mandates its use across roles within the company.
“I can’t imagine how we lived without this for so long,” said Elizabeth Norberg, the company’s chief human resources officer. This year, the company hired about 200 new employees with AI-powered skills. “We can help students do the same.”
Graduates often need some coaching to become familiar with AI applications for business, she added. Market analyst Ernst & Young reported in 2024 that while Gen Z has a lot of general knowledge about AI, they lag behind in a practical understanding of how to best use these tools.
For example, many graduates know basic prompts but lack experience with AI data analysis or coding their own models, Norberg said.
Still, many Gen Z graduates have already proven to be effective leaders in artificial intelligence, said Christopher Stanton, a Harvard Business School professor who studies the AI economy and frequently consults with industry leaders. He says young people immersed in technology are moving up the ranks faster, while workers who resist it are increasingly being fired.
Sam Iannone, a third-year product management student at Northeastern University, credits his knowledge of AI with helping him found two co-ops at Boston wearable technology company Whoop.
“I’m a college student. I want to get a job. What I need to do is 100% become an AI guy,” he said.
Major employers in the region, including Boston Consulting Group and software giant HubSpot, said they are prioritizing the use of AI in junior roles, primarily as a means to reduce repetitive tasks.
But an April Gallup poll found that Gen Z’s excitement about generative artificial intelligence fell 14 percent in one year, and fell faster among those who use the technology on a daily basis, about half of those ages 14 to 29.
Young people’s dissatisfaction with AI also made headlines last month when students at various universities berated commencement speakers who took to the stage to extol the virtues of an artificially assisted future.
Aya Mahmoud, a recent MIT graduate, said that while experience designing AI products is likely to be helpful on a resume, she still thinks much of the technology’s use by companies is morally gray.
Maitreyi Das, an assistant professor at Northeastern University who studies AI and cognitive dissonance, said there is “abandoned compliance” in students’ use of AI tools in their academic and career pursuits.
Ketwani, who graduated with a degree in economics and business management, said his manager at a previous internship said: Instead of letting her do the presentation, she was once assigned to do it using AI.
“Of course, that’s something I didn’t want to do, but in a company you can’t say no to something like that,” she said.
A Harvard Kennedy School poll last year found that more than half of 18- to 29-year-olds see AI as a threat to their job prospects, and 41% say it makes their work less meaningful.
Demand for young workers will decline by 35 percent between 2023 and 2025, according to workforce data firm Rebellio Labs, while some of the career paths most exposed to AI saw particularly large reductions at the entry level, a 2025 report from Stanford University’s Digital Economy Lab found.
But there are some positive signs for younger workers, as some companies have so far found that AI is not capable of many of the entry-level tasks they thought it could handle.
This year, the intern-to-full-time conversion rate is expected to rise for the first time from a five-year low, and new hires are expected to increase by 5.6%, NACE reports.
Some large companies, including IBM and Klarna, have completely backed away from promises to automate and streamline AI-enabled operations and are instead doubling down on hiring.
Still, students said they were still concerned about the impact AI would have on their careers.
“The reasons for not using AI will never change,” Federiso says. “It’s going to be so easy that it’s going to take a lot of effort.” [to avoid it will] become harmful. ”
Contact Brian Hecht at bryan.hecht@globe.com. Follow him on Instagram @bhechtjournalism.
