Deep down we all have that gut feeling, but with the surge in technology and the ability to question everything at the click of a mouse, do we need to rely on intuition?

With Gen Z being the largest generation in the workplace right now, some may find it alarming to see that according to a study by [1]Marlee ‘Unlocking Gen Z at work’ Gen Z employees trust their instincts far less than any previous generation, in fact by a staggering 60%.

“They need to bounce their ideas around to form any kind of decision,” said Michelle Duval, Marlee’s founder and CEO.

The likely cause for Gen Z trusting their intuition less is technology. They have grown up in a world where information is instantly available, so if they are unsure of something they can turn to search engines, social media, video platforms and so on. According to [2]Pew Research, about 54% of Gen Z respondents report making decisions based on influencers or online communities, showing a shift from traditional intuition-based methods.

I am sure we know the supposed impacts of not trusting your gut instinct: Overlooking warning signs about people or situations, increased risk of regret, missed opportunities, reduced self-confidence and even emotional and mental strains.

So, does it really need to be intuition vs AI? Or can they go hand in hand?

As Robert Heller said in 1984, “Never ignore a gut feeling, but never believe it is enough”.

The average adult makes around [3]35,000 conscious decisions every day, some simple day to day choices, like what to wear or eat but some are far more complex such as business choices:  ‘should we hire more staff?’ or ‘Is now the time to make a strategic move’.

Humans alone are struggling to keep the pace, a recent [4]Gartner survey found that 65% of decisions made today are more complex — involving more stakeholders or choices — than they were two years ago. Decision making can’t keep up with the fast-changing context in which business decisions are being made today.

Which is why AI can and will play a more central role in making quicker, accurate and accountable decisions. AI should be utilised to its skill set – deploying technology to collect, aggregate, analyse, and recommend the best path to success in the shortest amount of time. Humans will still have the ultimate decision, but they will have lessened the load and technically ‘outsourced’ the groundwork.

In a tech driven world, perhaps Gen Z’s approach to their gut feeling is an advantage, if we can combine the knowledge of trusting your intuition from previous generations with the confidence in AI that Gen Z have, we can have the best of both worlds.

Grounded, informed and ultimately human centred decisions.

Author: Naomi Fenn-Mansfield

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[1] https://getmarlee.com/research-study/unlocking-gen-z-study

[2] https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2022/11/21/for-shopping-phones-are-common-and-influencers-have-become-a-factor-especially-for-young-adults/

[3] https://go.roberts.edu/leadingedge/the-great-choices-of-strategic-leaders

[4] https://www.gartner.com/smarterwithgartner/would-you-let-artificial-intelligence-make-your-pay-decisions#:~:text=A%20recent%20Gartner%20survey%20found,decisions%20are%20being%20made%20today.