دانشگاه اصفهان جامعه شناسی کاربردی 2008-5745 37 4 2026 12 22 A Sociological Analysis of the Impact of Artificial Intelligence on the Social Relations of Generation Z in Isfahan تحلیل جامعه‎‌شناختی تأثیر هوش مصنوعی بر مناسبات اجتماعی نسل Z در اصفهان 25 48 30371 10.22108/jas.2026.147846.2751 FA میثم غلامی دانشجوی دکتری جامعه‌شناسی مسائل اجتماعی ایران، دانشکده علوم انسانی، دانشگاه آزاد اسلامی واحد دهاقان، دهاقان، ایران سید ناصر حجازی استادیار گروه جامعه‌شناسی، دانشکده علوم انسانی، دانشگاه آزاد اسلامی واحد دهاقان، دهاقان، ایران اسماعیل باقری استادیار گروه کامپیوتر، دانشکده فنی ومهندسی، دانشگاه آزاد اسلامی واحد دهاقان، دهاقان، ایران Journal Article 2025 12 22 Introduction In recent decades, the expansion of communication technologies, the internet, and artificial intelligence has transformed traditional patterns of social life, exerting a particularly profound influence on Generation Z—namely, those born between 1995 and 2010. Having grown up in an environment deeply embedded in digital technologies, social networks, and intelligent tools, this generation organizes a significant portion of its interactions, decisions, and everyday experiences in close connection with these technologies. By personalizing communication, facilitating access to information, and shaping communicative choices, artificial intelligence can play an influential role in redefining the social interactions, roles, and communicative practices of Generation Z. Despite the expansion of virtual interactions, face-to-face communication continues to be essential for fostering empathy, trust, and stable social bonds. Accordingly, Generation Z occupies a dual position situated between in-person communication and technology-mediated interaction. This condition assumes particular significance in the city of Isfahan, which represents a cultural and urban field with a rich historical background and deeply rooted social traditions. On this basis, the central problem of the present study was to examine how and to what extent artificial intelligence affects the social relations of Generation Z in Isfahan. Materials & Methods The present study was conducted using a quantitative approach and a survey method. In terms of temporal dimension, it was a cross-sectional study; in terms of purpose, it was applied; and in terms of breadth and depth of investigation, it fell within the category of broad-based research. The statistical population consisted of Generation Z residents of the city of Isfahan defined according to Turner as those born between 1995 and 2010. Based on data from the 2016 national census, the population of this group in Isfahan was estimated at 451,038 individuals. The sample size was determined as 340 respondents by using Sample Power software, taking into account the statistical requirements of the research model. A quota sampling method was employed proportional to the size of the statistical population with quotas distributed according to age–gender groups and residential area across the fifteen municipal districts of Isfahan. Data were collected using a researcher-developed questionnaire, the items of which were designed based on the theoretical foundations of the study and the dimensions of the main variables—namely, artificial intelligence, social interaction, and social roles. The reliability of the instrument was assessed using Cronbach's alpha coefficient. Finally, the data were analyzed at both descriptive and inferential levels using SPSS and AMOS software. Discussion of Results & Conclusion The findings of the study indicated that artificial intelligence played a significant role in the social relations of Generation Z in the city of Isfahan. However, this role could not be understood merely in terms of the instrumental use of technology. The results showed that the mean score of social interaction among Generation Z was lower than the theoretical mean, suggesting a relative weakness in the quality, cohesion, and depth of this generation's social relations. This finding might reflect the dual condition of Generation Z: on the one hand, this generation lived within digital, rapid, extensive, and platform-based forms of communication; on the other hand, it still required face-to-face, emotional, and in-person interactions for the formation of trust, empathy, and stable social bonds. In contrast, the mean score of social roles being higher than the theoretical level indicated that, despite changes in communicative patterns, Generation Z possessed a relatively favorable awareness of family, professional, academic, and social roles and was capable of enacting these roles across different contexts of everyday life. This result is consistent with Giddens's view of reflexive identity and social roles in late modernity. Generation Z did not perceive or enact its roles as fixed and traditionally determined; rather, it redefined them in relation to changing conditions, individual choices, and technological possibilities. Furthermore, the lower mean score of the artificial intelligence variable compared with the theoretical mean suggested that, although this technology was present in the lives of Generation Z, levels of awareness, perception, acceptance, and trust regarding it had not yet become fully established. Therefore, the impact of artificial intelligence on the social relations of this generation did not necessarily imply the complete dominance of technology over human relations. Rather, it pointed to an emerging process, through which intelligent technologies were gradually being incorporated into patterns of interaction, decision-making, and enactment of social roles. The results of structural equation modeling further revealed that artificial intelligence explained a considerable proportion of the variance in both social interaction and social roles. This finding confirmed that, in the contemporary social context, artificial intelligence was not merely a technical tool; rather, it had become a social, cultural, and communicative factor capable of reconfiguring modes of communication, processes of meaning-making within social relations, and patterns of role enactment. Overall, it could be concluded that the social relations of Generation Z in Isfahan were situated at the intersection of cultural traditions, face-to-face interactions, and intelligent technologies. Accordingly, a sociological understanding of these relations required simultaneous attention to both the communicative opportunities offered by artificial intelligence and its potential consequences for the quality of human relationships, social cohesion, and intergenerational gaps. مناسبات اجتماعی به‌عنوان سازوکار اصلی پیوند میان فرد و جامعه، نقشی اساسی در معنا‌بخشی به کنش‌های انسانی ایفا می‌کند. هدف پژوهش، تبیین نقش هوش مصنوعی در بازآرایی الگوهای کنش متقابل و ایفای نقش‌های اجتماعی نسل زد در بستر فرهنگی _ شهری اصفهان است. پژوهش حاضر ازنظر روش، پیمایشی، ازحیث زمان، مقطعی، ازنظر هدف، کاربردی و ازلحاظ گستره، پهنانگر است. جامعۀ آماری شامل ۴۵۱۰۳۸ نفر از نسل زد ساکن شهر اصفهان در سال ۱۴۰۴ بوده که حجم نمونه ۳۴۰ نفر تعیین و به روش نمونه‌گیری سهمیه‌ای متناسب با حجم جامعه انتخاب شد. ابزار گردآوری داده‌ها پرسش‌نامه بوده است که روایی محتوای آن در سطح قابل‌قبولی ارزیابی و پایایی ابزار با استفاده از ضریب آلفای کرونباخ سنجش شد. یافته‌ها نشان می‌دهد که میانگین «کنش متقابل» (76/61) کمتر از مقدار نظری موردانتظار است که بیانگر ضعف نسبی در کیفیت و انسجام مناسبات اجتماعی نسل زد است؛ درحالی‌که میانگین «نقش‌های اجتماعی» (13/55) بیشتر از سطح نظری قرار دارد و نشان‌دهندۀ آگاهی و ایفای مناسب نقش‌های اجتماعی است. همچنین میانگین متغیر «هوش مصنوعی» (76/93) کمتر از حد نظری ارزیابی شد. نتایج تحلیل مدل معادلات ساختاری نیز بیانگر آن است که هوش مصنوعی به ترتیب 38% و 41% از واریانس کنش متقابل و نقش‌های اجتماعی را تبیین می‎‌کند.

https://jas.ui.ac.ir/article_30371_15a31ebcc2e17bddf2c32a553335e96f.pdf