Almost half of Gen Z adults say AI has influenced a decision they made, and a majority trust the technology, with AI playing a growing role in shaping personal and financial choices, according to research commissioned by Aegon.

The study for the pension provider in July by Opinium reinforced how Gen Z embraced AI far higher than older generations. It found 48% of 18 to 29-year-olds had changed their mind after consulting AI, compared with just 5% of people aged 81 and over.

More than half of Gen Z (55%), said they trusted and used AI, compared with 18% of Boomers and 11% of the Silent Generation.

Younger adults were also more open to discussing financial concerns with AI, with 24% saying they would feel comfortable doing so, compared with only 5% of Boomers.

Dr Tom Mathar, head of Money:Mindshift at Aegon, said the key issue was not whether people were using AI but “how they’re using it”.

Mathar said: "What's particularly striking is that almost half of Gen Z say AI has changed their mind about a decision. For many younger adults, AI is becoming more than a source of information. It's increasingly a tool for exploring options, testing assumptions and thinking through important choices.

"One of the most valuable things AI can do is help us look at familiar decisions from a different perspective. That can be powerful, particularly when we're weighing complex financial trade-offs. Our research suggests people are increasingly treating AI as a partner for thinking those trade-offs through.

"AI is excellent at surfacing information and challenging our assumptions, but it can only work with the information we give it. Many of life's biggest decisions are shaped by experiences, relationships and personal priorities that are difficult to capture in a prompt. AI only knows what you tell it, and a personal logic hardly transpires in a chat window."

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