Stress in the Age of AI: A Phenomenological Study of Gen Z Students in Private Higher Education in South Africa

Abstract

Generation Z (Gen Z), born between 1997 and 2012, represents the first cohort of students to enter higher education with lifelong exposure to digital technologies. The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) has transformed higher education, offering opportunities for innovation while presenting challenges in adaptation. This study explored how Gen Z students in a private higher education institution in South Africa experience stress and how they perceive the role of AI in relation to that stress. Data was collected from 43 open-ended questionnaires and 10 semi-structured interviews, allowing for an in-depth understanding of students’ lived experiences. Findings showed that students experienced moderate to high stress, largely due to academic pressures, financial strain, and uncertainty about the future. Importantly, AI was not perceived as a source of stress. Instead, students viewed AI as a supportive academic tool that helped simplify concepts, assist with writing, improve organisation, and reduce workload-related stress. This challenges traditional technostress theory, which emphasises overload, complexity, and techno-anxiety, by revealing that digital-native students may experience AI as a stress-reducing rather than stress-inducing technology. The study makes a theoretical contribution by reframing technostress theory for Gen Z learners and introduces the AI-Adaptation Model of Student Stress, which illustrates how technological familiarity enables techno-normalisation and positions AI as a coping resource rather than a burden. This highlights the need to reconsider how technostress is conceptualised for digitally immersed generations.