The AI Market We’re Overlooking: Snapchat AI & Gen Z

The other night, I had an interesting conversation with my high school daughter about AI—specifically, how she uses it.

She doesn’t use ChatGPT. She doesn’t use Google’s Gemini, or Microsoft’s Copilot.

She uses Snapchat AI, one of the 55% of teens in the US who use this platform.

For what? Brainstorming ideas, outlining school assignments, getting quick advice.

But what struck me most was this—Snapchat is the app she spends the most time on. More than Instagram, more than TikTok (surprising I know). It’s where she and her friends have group chats and streaks, send silly selfies, create avatars, keep track of each other’s locations, and now, use AI to make everyday life easier. You can even customize your Snapchat AI’s personality and give it a name.

Snapchat has become an all-in-one platform for this generation, seamlessly integrating social interaction and personalized AI assistance.

As marketers and business leaders, we often focus on AI in professional settings—how it helps with content creation, automation, and productivity. But there’s an entire generation of teens and young adults using AI daily in a way we rarely discuss.

This makes me wonder:

• How else are Gen Z (and Gen Alpha) using AI that we aren’t paying attention to?
• What marketing opportunities exist in this space?
• Are we underestimating Snapchat AI’s role in shaping the next wave of digital behavior?

If we’re not thinking about this now, we might be missing a huge opportunity to connect with future consumers where they already are.

I’d love to hear from you—have you talked to your kids or teens about how they use AI and what app they use? Are you leveraging this app for your marketing? What surprises you?