Under the unforgiving gaze of Gen X, Generation Z can never get anything quite right. From striving for a healthywork–life balance and being branded ‘lazy,’ to earning the backhanded title of the ‘sensible generation’ for drinking less than those before us, my generation never seems to catch a break.
Now, Gen Z has been labelled as the first generation to be dumber than the last.
In February this year, former teacher-turned-neuroscientist, Dr Jared Cooney Horvath, testified before the U.S. Senate that the generation born between 1997 and the early 2010s has been cognitively stunted by their over-reliance on digital technology. Dr Horvath’s research shows declines in attention span, memory, reading and math proficiency, problem-solving skills, and overall IQ scores.
The neuroscientist argues this stems from young people spending more time on screens and consuming short, summarised content instead of engaging in deeper learning. He told The New York Post that, “Most of these young people are overconfident about how smart they are.” Predictably this spiralled into broader statements that labelled Gen Z as ‘less intelligent’ and even ‘dumb’.
But I am, in fact, surrounded by objectively intelligent and hard-working young people. While some hold master’s degrees, others have spent the summers of their youth battling for internships.
Despite these achievements, in 2025 there were around 140 applications per graduate vacancy – a record high for the second consecutive year, according to the Institute of Student Employers. We’re gaining the same qualifications as the recent generations before us but find ourselves in an increasingly impossible job market. I used to view a master’s degree as a highly regarded qualification. Now, it feels like just enough.
It’s true that we constantly rely on technology. I’ll admittedly ask Chat GPT to devise a recipe using the last ingredients in my fridge and I do ask it to break down concepts that should be easy enough to understand in the first place. But I’m not suddenly incapable because of it. I’m perfectly aware that not everything is accessible with a shortcut. I know that AI hallucinates, and I know that the pleasure of reading a novel is lost if replaced with AI chapter summaries.
Truthfully, we’re just tired. With constant media reminders about the impossibility of today’s job market and the inevitable doom scrolling we subject ourselves to every Sunday night, my generation carries a heavy feeling of helplessness.
Our small moments of comfort lie in the reassurance that we can find an answer to a question without trekking to the nearest library or watch a clip of Love Island on TikTok without having to wait to watch the whole show. While perhaps these actions suggest a lack of a patience, they hardly constitute as a reflection of our cognitive ability.
So, yes, maybe we rely a little more on technology than the generations before us and our attention spans are shorter – but we’re a product of the society we grew up in. If Gen X had grown up immersed in the same level of technology, they would be grappling with many of the same challenges.
For a generation thrust into a whirlwind of social media, AI and an unforgiving job market, I reckon Gen Z ultimately deserve a little more understanding and a lot more grace.