Too many subscriptions, worse products, AI, 'hurtful' algorithms, 'spy' devices: nearly half of Gen Z want to live in the past due to the trappings of modern tech

• A new NBC News survey reveals a nostalgia for the past
• 47% of respondents want to go back to previous years
• Dissatisfaction with modern tech and apps is a major driver

Dissatisfaction with modern technology and its trappings — including AI, subscriptions, data tracking, and algorithm-driven apps — is having an impact, with nearly half of Gen Z adults in the US (aged 18-29) would rather live in the past than the present day.

This is from an NBC News survey of 3,009 people in the Gen Z bracket, who were quizzed on issues covering climate change and gun policy to personal finances and religion. The data showed 14% wanting to live 50 or more years in the past, with 33% percent keen to live less than 50 years in the past, given the choice.

In contrast, 38% were happy living in the present, 5% wanted to live less than 50 years into the future, and 10% wanted to live 50 or more years in the future. While the survey itself didn't cover tech in any great depth, some of the respondents NBC News spoke to individually highlighted tech issues as reasons for wanting to travel back in time.

These respondents mentioned the ubiquity of smartphones, the lack of "personal experience", and social media as some of the downsides of modern tech, while one survey participant bemoaned "so, so much internet" and all the "bullcrap" that goes along with it as a reason for wanting to roll back the years.

'Nostalgic for the past'

Discomfort with modern technology shapes Gen Z's desire to live in the past from r/technology

NBC News also spoke to nostalgia researcher and existential psychologist Clay Routledge, who pointed to a feeling of being controlled by phones and technology as a driving force behind a feeling of being "more nostalgic for the past".

Further reactions to the survey on Reddit included a host of extra complaints: constant subscriptions, products that are worse and don't last as long, spying on users, "hurtful algorithms", tech addiction, advertising, and AI all get cited, alongside nostalgia for tech that was simpler to operate and easier to repair.

However, it's notable that most people don't want to go too far back: the 1990s and early 2000s seems to be the sweet spot, when advances in technology still seemed exciting and beneficial to the human race in general. For reference, the first iPod launched in 2001, and we got the first iPhone in 2007.

One of the tech topics that was included in the survey was AI, and opinion on it was quite evenly divided: around half the respondents were "anxious" or "concerned" about AI, particularly in terms of what it might mean for their careers, with the rest of the respondents either "not worried" or "optimistic".

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