96% of students use AI, but 56% would ban it

A Fizz study found that 96% of college students use AI, while 56% said they would permanently ban the technology if they could. The report compares Gen Z’s relationship with AI to earlier generations’ relationship with cigarettes, citing widespread use alongside awareness of potential harms and reluctance to give it up.

Dependence varied with how often students used AI. Among those using it several times a day, 68% said schoolwork would become harder without it. That figure was 59% for daily users, 42% for weekly users, 22% for those using it a few times a month, and 9% for those using it less than monthly. Among heavy users, 43% also said preparing for a career would be harder without AI, and two in five worried their daily lives would be more difficult.

Communication and people skills were the top priority for 27% of students. Fizz reported that 86% of daily AI users had used it for something they previously might have discussed with another person, including career or life advice (51%), personal problems (48%), and deciding how to reply to a message (45%).

Nearly half of the heaviest users reportedly felt pressure to use AI for fear of falling behind in the job market. Separately, 64% of surveyed students felt at least some pressure from teachers or educational institutions to adopt it. Asked about concerns, 35% cited environmental damage and 28% cognitive decline and dependence. The report’s conclusion says students may want to give AI up if everyone else did too.