40% of Gen Z is Using AI to Cheat at Work

Clutches pearls Young people are using AI to do their jobs faster and better, and sometimes they're not broadcasting every single prompt they fed to ChatGPT. Stop the presses! Gen Z is officially "cheating" at work, according to a new Resume Genius survey that found 40% of Gen Z men have passed off AI-generated work as their own.

The 'Cheating' That Actually Makes Sense

Let's break down what this Resume Genius survey actually found. Among 1,000 full-time Gen Z employees, 60% said AI helps them work faster and with less effort, while 56% said it improved the accuracy and quality of their work. Meanwhile, 39% are automating tasks without their manager's permission, and 30% are using AI to generate work to look more productive.

The language here is telling. "Without permission." "Passed off as their own." "Generate fake work." These phrases assume that using AI is inherently deceptive, but that assumption is increasingly absurd in 2025.

When a carpenter uses a power drill instead of a hand drill, do we accuse them of "cheating"? When a designer uses Photoshop instead of hand-drawing everything, are they being "deceptive"? The framing of AI as cheating reveals more about workplace dysfunction than it does about employee ethics.

The Gender Gap That Actually Matters

The survey found that 71% of Gen Z men use AI to prioritize tasks and organize schedules, compared with 48% of Gen Z women. Men are also more likely to use AI for feedback and checking their work. And yes, more men (40%) than women (20%) are passing AI-generated work off as their own.

But here's the interesting part: 40% of Gen Z men worry AI could take their jobs, compared to only 33% of women. The people using AI most heavily are also the most anxious about being replaced by it. That's not the behavior of reckless cheaters—that's the behavior of people who understand the stakes.

These men aren't using AI because they're lazy or dishonest. They're using it because they recognize that AI proficiency is becoming a survival skill in the modern workplace. The fact that they're not advertising every AI interaction suggests they understand something their managers don't: the tools you use matter less than the results you deliver.

The Real Problem: Employers Stuck in the Past

Eva Chan, a career expert at Resume Genius, warns that "workers start outsourcing not just tasks, but their judgment, confidence, and even their voice." But this assumes that the current workplace setup actually develops judgment, confidence, and voice in the first place.

Most corporate jobs involve a stunning amount of busywork, performative tasks, and process theater that has nothing to do with actual value creation. When 39% of Gen Z workers are automating tasks behind their manager's back, maybe the real question is: why are we making people ask permission to be more efficient?

The survey found that 57% of Gen Z workers run their work by AI before showing it to a manager, and 56% use AI to figure out how to talk to their boss or coworkers. This isn't dependency—this is adaptation. These workers are using AI to navigate workplace dynamics and communication challenges that shouldn't exist in the first place.

The Productivity Paradox No One Wants to Discuss

Here's what's really happening: Gen Z has figured out that most white-collar work can be dramatically optimized with AI, but admitting this threatens the entire edifice of corporate productivity theater. So instead of celebrating efficiency gains, we're hand-wringing about "authenticity."

The survey found that 18% of Gen Z workers couldn't perform their tasks without AI and would have to quit if it was banned. Rather than seeing this as a problem, maybe we should see it as an indictment of jobs that require so much repetitive, low-value work that AI assistance becomes essential for basic functionality.

When 23% of Gen Z workers say AI negatively impacts their mental health, and 39% feel burned out by constant AI updates, the problem isn't that they're becoming too dependent on AI. The problem is that they're being forced to use inadequate tools in poorly designed work environments.

The Skills Question Everyone's Getting Wrong

The survey reveals that AI users are more likely to feel replaceable (37% overall), and nearly half believe AI could lead to unfair biases. But instead of concluding that AI use is dangerous, maybe we should conclude that current job structures are fragile and poorly designed.

Gen Z workers aren't losing critical thinking skills by using AI—they're applying critical thinking to their work environment and concluding that much of what they're asked to do is inefficient busywork that can be automated. That's not a failure of judgment; that's excellent judgment.

The real skill gap isn't AI literacy—it's management literacy. While Gen Z workers are rapidly adapting to AI-augmented workflows, their managers are still operating under industrial-era assumptions about productivity, oversight, and value creation.

The Honesty Problem That's Not About Honesty

When 31% of Gen Z workers have used AI in ways that break company policies, including sharing internal data, the problem isn't employee dishonesty—it's policy lag. Most corporate AI policies were written by people who don't understand how AI actually works, implemented by HR departments that don't understand how work actually works, and enforced by managers who don't understand how productivity actually works.

The survey found that men are more likely to integrate AI deeply into their workflow and feel more anxious about losing it. This suggests they understand something important: AI isn't just a productivity boost, it's a fundamental shift in how work gets done. Pretending otherwise isn't honest—it's willfully blind.

The Trust Question We're Not Asking

The real question isn't whether Gen Z workers should be more transparent about their AI use. The real question is whether workplaces deserve that transparency. When employees feel they need to hide efficiency improvements from their managers, that says everything about the management culture and nothing about employee ethics.

If a worker can use AI to complete their tasks faster and better, why should they pretend to struggle through manual processes just to satisfy their manager's expectations about "authentic" work? The value is in the output, not the process.

The Future That's Already Here

Gen Z isn't cheating—they're just living in 2025 while their employers are managing like it's 2005. The survey data shows that AI adoption is inevitable: 77% of Gen Z workers believe AI will impact how they work within the next year, and they're focused on training and skills development to work alongside the technology.

The workers adapting fastest to AI aren't the problem. The managers who can't distinguish between process and results, who conflate tool use with competence, and who mistake transparency for honesty—they're the problem.

The Marketing Reality: Adapt or Become Irrelevant

For marketing leaders and business executives, the message is clear: your youngest, most adaptable workers are showing you the future of productivity. You can either update your management philosophy to match their reality, or you can keep clutching your pearls about "cheating" while they quietly outperform everyone else.

The companies that will thrive are the ones that embrace AI-augmented workflows, measure results instead of processes, and trust their employees to use the best tools available. The companies that won't? They're the ones still calling efficiency "cheating."

Evolution, Not Deception

Forty percent of Gen Z men passing off AI work as their own isn't a moral failing—it's an evolutionary advantage. They've figured out how to be more productive, more accurate, and more efficient. The only reason this looks like "cheating" is because we're still using outdated metrics for workplace success.

The real cheating would be forcing capable workers to pretend AI doesn't exist just to satisfy management's comfort with familiar but inefficient processes. Gen Z isn't deceiving anyone—they're just ahead of the curve.

It's time for employers to catch up.