A new survey from dating app Hily (2,900 Gen Z and Millennial users) shows that fears about AI and job security have become a real factor in who young people choose to date — and who they rule out.
The Core Finding
- 33% of Gen Z respondents said they'd be less interested in dating someone whose job involves building AI tools that displace human workers.
- 22% of Millennials said the same, showing the trend skews younger but isn't exclusive to Gen Z.
- Hily's own framing: working on AI products isn't neutral in the dating pool — for many Gen Z daters, being on the "AI side" carries a real social cost.
Why: A Broader Anti-AI Mood at Work
- Glassdoor data cited in the piece found a 240% jump in employee posts criticizing AI use at work (May 2026 vs. May 2025).
- Negative sentiment about workplace AI rose from 41% to 51% year-over-year.
- Gen Z posted the lowest positive sentiment toward workplace AI of any generation, at just 33%.
It Cuts Both Ways
AI isn't purely a dealbreaker — it can also be a plus, depending on how a person relates to it:
- 30% of Gen Z say a date is more appealing if their job looks protected from automation.
- ~50% say they're more drawn to partners actively upskilling to stay ahead of AI, versus those who seem passive about the risk.
Job Security Is the Real Undercurrent
- 83% of Gen Z say job security matters when picking a long-term partner.
- 87% link that priority to income level.
- 31% of Gen Z women and 13% of Gen Z men say they've ended a date over concerns the person's job looked automation-vulnerable.
- 66% say they're personally disturbed by news of AI-driven job losses.
- 70% say they'd feel closer to a partner who shares their concerns about automation.
AI is layering a new, fast-moving variable onto a familiar dating calculus. Job stability has always mattered in choosing a partner — what's changed is that Gen Z is now reading someone's relationship to AI (threatened by it, complicit in it, or adapting to it) as a signal of how secure a shared future might be.