By India McCarty
As dependence on AI and chatbots grows stronger every day, many are choosing to reject the tech in favor of physical, offline activities — A.K.A. “analog lifestyles.”
“This is not about a short-term digital detox but about a long-term change in habits: using paper notes, film cameras, vinyl records, simple mobile phones, crafts, and live communication instead of social networks and algorithmic feeds,” news site Mezha explained.
The outlet reported that craft store chain Michaels has seen a major surge in customers; they expect “an additional 30-40% growth in 2026.”
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For example, knitting. Michaels reported “requests for yarn kits increased by 1,200%” in 2025, which encouraged the store chain to “expand store space for craft supplies.”
Some Gen Zers are even going so far as to carry “analog bags” — instead of just bringing their smartphone along for commutes or sitting in waiting rooms, young people are toting crossword puzzles, books and knitting needles.
“If you go to your phone for news, put a newspaper in your bag,” content creator Sierra Campbell told The Guardian. “If it’s for entertainment, try a good book. For creative inspiration, sketching tools or knitting. It’s just like physical fitness — whatever activity you’ll actually do is the best one to include.”
Experts are also noting an interest in old-school fashion and beauty trends, as opposed to AI-powered advancements.
“We saw a lot of people jumping onto the ship of using AI really, really quickly, but without even thinking about why they were using it,” Anjela Freyja, a creative director and designer who covers fashion and beauty trends on her social media pages, told Forbes. “It’s not whether we use AI or not, it’s how we use it. People were using it because it was hot, and not because it was actually relevant or helped communicate their brand ethos, which is not a very thoughtful thing to do ever.”
She added, “I think they [Gen Z] just want brands to be truthful about why they exist and what they represent. That’s how you win their hearts.”
As our lives get more tangled up in technology, young people everywhere are working to get back to basics — and away from their phones.
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