Youngsters are, without a doubt, the front runners when it comes to the use of artificial intelligence, and understandably so. Those born post-2000 have had immense exposure to up-and-coming technologies. This has given them a greater appreciation for new-age technical advances and a more open mindset towards these innovations. So, to understand how Gen Z perceives and uses AIGC (Artificial Intelligence Generated Content), the founder and CEO of Soul, Zhang Lu asked her team to conduct a survey.

Just So Soul, which is the research division of Soul Zhang Lu’s company was entrusted the task of creating a questionnaire, getting the users of the platform to participate in the survey, and analyzing the responses received. The participants were all users of the Soul platform which enjoys exceptional popularity among China’s Gen Z.

The survey was designed to understand the overall attitude towards Artificial Intelligence (AI), general usage trends, the way in which AIGC tools are being used professionally, and the impact that AI has made on the personal lives and digital socialization habits of youngsters.

Over 3400 users of Soul Zhang Lu’s social platform participated in the survey of which 80% were Zoomers. Because 80% of Soul App’s monthly active users are 25 years and younger, the responses to the survey can be taken as markers of Gen Z’s overall understanding and usage of AIGC as well as their attitude towards the innovative technology.

As far as general usage trends were concerned, 90% of those surveyed had used AIGC products and among them Zoomers knew the most about AIGC technology and related products. However, a startling 70% admitted to having only limited knowledge of the academic notion of AIGC.

For the purpose of this study, the team of Soul Zhang Lu used the description of AIGC provided by the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology in its recent whitepaper. The Academy defined AIGC as a series of technologies capable of automated content generation. As such, they also called AIGC a type of content and an approach to content creation that did not involve a lot of human input and often even no human input at all. 

Also, Soul Zhang Lu’s survey revealed that while new AIGC products are being rapidly introduced and Sora and Suna have no doubt captured the attention of youngsters in China, AIGC applications capable of human-computer interaction are the real crowd pullers—case in point, ChatGPT which continues to dominate the AIGC product market. 

In terms of usage trends, at 29%, the post-2000 cohort reported being the most excited about trying out AIGC products and learning about the technology. Over 6% also stated that they were well-versed in the use of industry-specific AIGC applications. Moreover, approximately 20% of the participants said that they use AIGC tools every day.

When it came to AIGC use for professional purposes, around 60% of the participants of Soul Zhang Lu’s survey expressed a sense of positivity and optimism towards the use of AI and 10% accepted that they had already monetized the technology. Also, 45.32% expressed their liking for how AIGC applications could be put to use on the professional front while approximately 18% expressed their appreciation for how AIGC can help professionals to get various business tasks done smoothly and quickly.

When responding to questions about the business-specific capabilities of AIGC tools, nearly 63% of the survey participants said that the ability of AIGC tools to augment work efficiency and productivity was the thing they liked the most about the technology. Around 54% stated that AIGC tools have the power to make life more convenient and that is their most appealing aspect. 

Approximately 54% also called their experience with AIGC tools both interesting and entertaining. As far as industry-specific usage of AI was concerned, professionals in communication, marketing, advertising, content creation, art, academics, and research among others were the major users of AIGC tools. 

A distinct growth was also observed in the number of people who had already used or were keen on using AIGC products for digital socialization. The survey done by the team of Soul Zhang Lu revealed that 60% of the platform’s young users had already used social networking products with AI as their foundation. What’s more, a third of respondents also admitted that they would like to have an AI chatbot as an online friend.

The multimodal capabilities of AIGC tools and their power to hold intelligent conversations with human-like coherence and logic make them particularly well-suited for social interactions. Despite this, around 70% of the survey participants reported being neutral when quizzed about the prospect of interacting with AIGC tools. Around 18% said that they would like to chitchat with an AI-powered interactive application while 12% admitted to being averse to the whole idea.

Of those who had already interacted with an AI chatbot, more than 47% said that they enjoyed the conversation because it flowed intuitively and easily without long pauses and repetitive statements. About 45% of these users said that the ability of AIGC products to offer immediate feedback and hold a conversation on any topic was what got them hooked. 

As the most distinct stamp of endorsement, around 44% of the survey respondents said that AIGC tools could offer emotional companionship and about half of them even suggested that AIGC products can help youngsters tackle loneliness. 

Of course, some amount of negativity continues to linger as revealed by the responses. For instance, around 43% of the people who responded to Soul Zhang Lu’s survey admitted their worries pertaining to job losses that AI is likely to cause while 38% were bothered by the possibility of low-quality AI-generated content flooding the internet. 

However, the team of Soul Zhang Lu confirmed that things are definitely looking up for AIGC as users are more optimistic about the technology this year than they were last year. So, what can be inferred from these figures is that AI will continue to grow and thrive as more youngsters start using this technology and relying on it for both professional and personal reasons.