There is a lot of chatter in the banking world about AI’s potential to disrupt jobs but, among the latest wave of future bankers at Goldman Sachs, few appear to be worried—and many are downright positive about the technology. That’s according to a survey shared with Fortune that asked interns about A.I. and about their personal aspirations.
Nearly all, or 93%, of Goldman summer analysts in the survey reported they use A.I. in their personal lives, up from 86% in 2023, according to a questionnaire. Similar to last year, one-third of Goldman’s respondents said they use A.I. to do research, another 32% used it to help with writing, while 13% said the technology helped them check code.
Artificial intelligence has been around for years but didn’t really get introduced to the public until OpenAI released ChatGPT in late 2022. Gen Z, which refers to people born between the late 1990s and early 2000s, is considered the first generation to grow up with A.I. as a dominant part of their lives—and who are now entering the professional workforce en masse.
Goldman first asked its interns about A.I.’s impact in 2023, said Jacqueline Arthur, global head of human capital management and corporate & workplace solutions. “The reality is that our interns are using A.I.in their daily life in many different ways,” Arthur told Fortune.
Roughly all of the Goldman interns, or 93%, believe A.I. will serve to enhance their capabilities, while 88% think the technology will have a net positive impact on society, a 7% increase from 2023. But nearly all, or 99%, of respondents think AI should be “heavily” or “somewhat” regulated.
“Gen Z is largely optimistic about the future and staying grounded in a post-pandemic future. Most don’t think AI will replace them,” Arthur said.
This year, Goldman welcomed about 2,600 students to its annual internship program. The internship is considered very competitive. Less than 1% of applicants get hired for the summer internship, which serves as a major feeder for the investment bank’s analyst class. The Goldman internship is designed to train young execs for careers in financial services or anything. About 80% of the summer interns get full-time offers at Goldman. The investment bank is currently accepting applications for its 2025 class.
Working as a Goldman analyst can lead to a very lucrative career as an investment banker, stockbroker or in private equity.
Summer interns typically work at Goldman after their sophomore or junior years of college. This means the executives are young, likely in the early 20s. This is the ninth year that Goldman has questioned its interns. About 2,100 answered the Goldman survey, which opened for responses in late July and closed on Aug. 7. Goldman’s executive office in partnership with the human capital management unit administered the online questionnaire.
Not only are the Goldman interns positive about A.I. but they have grown more optimistic about personal relationships. In 2022, only 45% of Goldman interns said they expected to get married or form a relationship, while just 25% said they wanted to have children. That rebounded in 2023 with 89% wanting to get married or have a relationship and 57% wanting kids. This year, 92% of Goldman interns want a relationship or marriage, while 61% expect to have children.
Stability is also more important to this year’s interns. About 55% believe happiness means putting down roots like buying a home, while 45% think happiness means having the freedom to relocate anywhere. This is a switch from 2022 and 2023, when more than half of respondents thought happiness and success meant having the freedom to relocate anywhere. Just 45% in 2023 and 43% in 2022 believed happiness was putting down roots.
“What our data is showing is that our young people are looking for more stability rather than for constant change,” Arthur said.
In 2021, Goldman was one of the first of the major investment banks to require its employees to return to the office. In 2022, nearly all, or 99%, of Goldman interns said work relationships were best formed in person. Goldman interns this year think work is very important to receive coaching and training, forming spontaneous connections and brainstorming new ideas. When it comes to communicating at work, nearly 45% said they’d rather collaborate in person.
