Generation Z (GenZ), born between 1997 and 2012, now forms the bulk of undergraduate cohorts (Seemiller & Grace, 2017), and older GenZs have even begun to enter the workforce. As the first generation to grow up with a strong dependency on digital technology, information practices differ greatly from previous generations. (Lee et al., 2023b). Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic coincided with their formative years, driving an accelerated adoption of technology in both educational and professional environments (Howard et al., 2023). Hence, there is an increasing need to gain a deeper understanding of GenZ’s interaction with emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence, to better support their integration into higher education and the workforce.

With the growing prevalence of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) in education and the workplace, GenAI has become an integral component of GenZ’s everyday technological resources. Specifically, GenAI affords a wide range of resources enhancing creativity, productivity, and decision-making across various contexts in their everyday life (Hirvonen et al., 2023). Prior research has shown that GenZs engage in higher levels of social activity on digital platforms and derive greater emotional satisfaction from digital media than older generations (Zhitomirsky- Geffet & Blau, 2017). Since GenZ is already accustomed to using digital media, GenZ students’ dependency on resources afforded by GenAI is likely to be further amplified. (Taecharungroj, 2023). Developing a holistic understanding of how GenZ students in higher learning interact with GenAI is critical for optimizing education, preparing the future workforce, and ensuring AI tools are leveraged in ways that align with their needs.

In terms of affordance-based research, affordances are manifested in the form of distinctive technological attributes that shape the nature of communication (Lee, 2010; Sundar et al., 2015). Hence, we focus on features of GenAI deemed critical for everyday learning and interaction among GenZ students in higher learning. For instance, GenAI supports skills development (e.g. coding, writing, designing) that aligns with GenZ’s tech-savvy nature. Further, GenZ students can use GenAI to brainstorm ideas, develop creative projects, and expand their critical thinking (Chan & Lee, 2023).

Within the information science domain, affordances are viewed as ‘information opportunities’— opportunities that allow individuals to engage in particular actions, thereby enabling access to information (Hirvonen et al., 2023; Lloyd, 2005). However, empirical research from such an information-oriented perspective on GenAI remains scarce. To fill this gap, this study aims to understand the affordances of GenAI that appeal to GenZs from an information-oriented perspective, focusing on how information is searched, accessed, and utilized. In the context of this study, we argue that GenAI affordances, as perceived by GenZ, create opportunities for efficient information access, shaping information practices that enable them to complete tasks more effectively.

This preliminary study identified three types of GenAI affordances (content searching and curation, content generation and ideation, as well as content enhancement and refinement) that facilitate information seeking and shape the information practices of GenZ students. Together, these affordances highlight GenAI’s potential to transform traditional information-seeking behaviors by not only providing access to information but also actively shaping the way users interact with, interpret, and apply the information. Indeed, as digital natives, Gen Z is well-positioned to leverage GenAI’s affordances, unlocking new ‘information opportunities’ surrounding the three themes to create values during information seeking.

The present study’s approach to GenAI affordances sheds light on practical use cases and on how GenZ students perceive and utilize the technology to achieve their goals. First, the uniqueness of GenZ’s GenAI usage stems from their greater comfort and familiarity with digital technology compared to older generations. Their inherent ease with technology gives them the heightened ability to discover GenAI affordances independently, and quickly adapt these affordances into diverse aspects of their lives, from academic research to everyday problem-solving. Second, the affordance-based approach focuses on identifying how GenAI provides specific opportunities for users to interact with the technology effectively. For GenZ users, this means understanding how AI’s features and capabilities enable them to perform various informational activities.

Affordances perceived by GenZ can cause problems in the long run. Firstly, because GenAI affords the generation of original content, there are potential negative implications for human creativity if there is an overreliance on technology for idea generation. This raises the question of whether GenZ students will begin producing uniform answers inspired by AI-generated content, instead of fully developing their creative ideas. Specifically, Google’s recent advertisement on their GenAI platform Gemini showcased a father using it to help his daughter write a letter to Olympic athlete Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, sparking controversy about the role of GenAI in producing creative work (Duffy, 2024). There is a need to discuss where ethical boundaries should be drawn and to guide GenZ students in navigating these considerations.

Secondly, using GenAI for information searching leads to an increased risk of misinformation. Specifically, a phenomenon called hallucinations, where the GenAI model generates false information that does not align with real-world facts, is a major risk for GenZ students (Lee, 2023). The problem is exacerbated by a lack of transparency over how exactly the model arrives at an output or which sources are used, making it difficult to verify AI-generated information. GenAI literacy programs in higher education need to be enhanced so GenZ students are taught to assess the credibility, accuracy, and reliability of GenAI content. In particular, understanding the ‘checkworthiness’ of GenAI content, which refers to content that needs verifying before accepting it as true or using it, is an important first step for GenZ students (Wright & Augenstein, 2020).

This study reveals the perceived affordances of GenAI for GenZs, addressing a gap in the current literature on GenAI. The findings underscore the significant extent to which GenAI has been integrated into the daily lives of GenZ students. Due to the ‘technoholic’ nature of GenZs, they are more likely to embrace AI technology in different areas of their life compared to millennials or Generation X (Chan & Lee, 2023).

This study’s research and practical contributions should be noted. Using affordances as a framework to examine how GenAI affords resources to GenZs, this study identified affordances that contribute to the literature and raise awareness of how Gen AI can be integrated into formal and informal education settings. More broadly, our findings can help inform educators and policymakers about the development of AI literacy policies for GenZs.

We acknowledged that the relatively small number of participants (n=34) limits the generalizability of this research. Nevertheless, the qualitative results can serve as a helpful starting point on GenZs’ information practices surrounding GenAI. Additionally, self-reported data on GenAI use in this study did not capture all aspects of GenAI use, such as frequency, variety of applications, or interactions with different types of AI models. Future work can use a mix of self-reports, usage logs, and analytics to obtain a more comprehensive view of GenAI use.