Gen Z doesn\u2019t feel great about the state of the country right now.<\/p>\n
Among 18 to 29-year-olds, 80% say the U.S. is on the wrong track, 76% disapprove of how President Donald Trump is handling the job of president, and just 25% expect life for Gen Z to be better than for previous generations, according to a new survey from NBC News<\/a>.<\/p>\n Gen Z\u2019s attitudes toward technology and history might be among the most interesting insights from the new survey, with nearly half of respondents (47%) saying they\u2019d like to live in the past. That response was more popular than the number of people from that generation who said they\u2019d like to live in the present (38%) and dwarfed those who wanted to live in the future (15%).<\/p>\n It appears that at least some of this longing for the past is rooted in apprehension about emerging technology. 48 percent of respondents said they were either concerned or anxious about AI, either because it would require new skills to keep up or because it could force them to change careers.<\/p>\n Twenty-seven percent said they\u2019re not worried about AI and believe it won\u2019t really affect their jobs. Just 25% said they\u2019re optimistic about AI, believing it will allow them to do their job better.<\/p>\n You see the nostalgia for a previous era in trends emerging, like the retro-style landline phone called the Tin Can<\/a>, which has gone viral in the past year. And as Bloomberg noted in a recent article about the Tin Can, retro tech is almost being thrust upon Gen Z, as countries like Australia ban social media for kids under 16.<\/p>\n