AI makes most of us nervous, but can it also make us more purposeful?

Recently, one of us was guest-teaching a humanities class on artificial intelligence. He asked students a simple question. Had they noticed themselves becoming more “attached” to their favorite chatbot? “For example,” he asked, “do you find yourself saying ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ to the chatbot more than you used to?”

Nearly every head nodded.

“Why?” he asked. One student raised her hand. “So if AI does take over,” she said, “it’ll remember that I was nice to it.”

The class laughed—but not entirely.

The fear and hype around AI

When we see public conversations about AI, they tend to swing wildly between hype and catastrophe. On one end, we see promises of unprecedented productivity and creativity. On the other hand, there is no shortage of warnings about mass unemployment, loss of human agency, and even the extinction of our species. In a national survey we conducted in December of more than 1,600 Americans, roughly four in 10 reported being very concerned about AI’s existential threat to humanity. The level of concern is comparable to how many feel about climate change. Notably, this anxiety cut across age, income, race, gender, and political affiliation.

These fears deserve serious attention. Governments and technology companies should continue rigorous testing, oversight, and safeguards. They need to make sure that there is responsible development of large language models. But focusing exclusively on worst-case scenarios risks obscuring a quieter—and possibly more consequential—question. Is AI helping people become more purposeful?

AI and purpose

To explore that question, we introduced a new measure in a survey of U.S. adults: The “AI for Meaningful Purpose Scale,” or AMPS. The scale asks whether people feel that AI helps them pursue goals that matter to them, develop skills they find meaningful, and stay connected to their values and sense of direction. For example, is AI helping teachers spend more time with students rather than on paperwork? Is it helping caregivers navigate complex health systems? Is it giving older adults new opportunities to create, learn, and connect?

And is it helping younger adults—who are now the most anxious generation in modern history—create a sense of direction that feels both authentic and achievable?

The generational divide was striking. Younger adults—Gen Z and Millennials—were roughly twice as likely as Gen Xers and Baby Boomers to say that AI supports these deeper aims. Men were twice as likely to report a high AMPS score as women. This is a gap that likely reflects differences in access, encouragement, and early design choices rather than inherent differences in interest or capability.

These disparities are not destiny—but they are early signals. If AI becomes a force multiplier for purposeful living, it won’t do so automatically or equitably.

How AI can impact wellbeing

What surprised us most, however, was how strongly AMPS scores tracked with broader indicators of well-being. People who scored high on AMPS were more than twice as likely to report a strong sense of personal agency, social connection, and hope about the future. In other words, they were more likely to be flourishing. This doesn’t mean AI is magically making people happy. But it does suggest that when people use AI in ways aligned with what matters most to them, they feel more capable and more directed.

One of the most intriguing findings emerged when we looked at how people hold competing views of AI. Older generations who were highly concerned about AI’s existential threat were less than half as likely to use it in the service of what mattered most to them. Among younger adults, however, concern about AI didn’t predict disengagement. Gen Z and Millennials were just as worried about AI’s risks as their elders. However, they were still actively using it to learn, grow, and pursue purpose.

This shows us that younger generations appear more willing to hold two seemingly contradictory truths at once: That AI may pose serious dangers, and that it can still be a powerful tool for living well. This capacity to live inside tension—neither naïvely optimistic nor paralyzed by fear—may turn out to be one of the most important skills of the AI era.

What the future of AI will look like

The future of AI won’t be determined solely by what machines become. How humans choose to use them, and toward what ends, will impact and shape how they develop. If we treat AI only as a threat to manage or a tool for efficiency, we miss an opportunity. However, if we use it thoughtfully, AI can amplify not just productivity, but purpose. It can give people a sense of agency, and also bring hope and connection in a time when all three are in short supply.

The real question, then, is not whether AI will change our lives. It already has. The question is whether we will design—and teach people to use—AI in ways that strengthen our sense of meaning and purpose rather than erode it.