Half of workers in the United States used AI at work at least a few times last year, a sign of steadily rising AI adoption in U.S. workplaces.
What’s new: Most U.S. workers who used AI found that it boosted their productivity, according to a poll conducted by Gallup, an organization that surveys public opinion on a wide variety of topics. Respondents were most likely to use the technology when it fit into the way they worked and their employers supported it. Still, a sizable portion of employees and employers are holding out.
How it works: Gallup surveyed 23,700 U.S. employees between February 4 and February 19 on a range of questions related to AI and work. They explored the technology’s impact on productivity, whether it is changing workflows, and whether organizations are supporting and integrating it. Some employees remain skeptical of AI, but the findings suggest that AI improves productivity and plays a larger role in organizations that support its use and provide suitable tools.
- Regular AI use is rising steadily. For example, 13 percent of respondents said they used AI daily, and 28 percent used it a few times a week. These figures are up from 4 percent and 11 percent respectively in 2023. At the organization level, two in five workers said their employers had introduced AI tools into the workplace and a quarter of companies had clear AI strategies.
- AI is boosting productivity but doesn’t yet substitute for established processes. Within companies where AI was used, 65 percent of employees said it improved their productivity, while 31 percent said it had changed the ways they worked. Only 7 percent of respondents who worked in organizations where AI was used disagreed that AI had affected how they worked.
- Managerial support influences employees’ behavior and outlook. Employees with strongly supportive managers in organizations that used AI were more likely to use AI and agree it had transformed their work.
- Low users and non-users widely indicated a desire to keep doing the work they do now. Other common barriers to AI adoption included ethical concerns, data privacy, and a belief or experience that AI wasn’t useful.
Behind the news: According to some accounts, AI’s impact has been disappointing relative to the promises made by tech evangelists. “AI is everywhere except in the incoming macroeconomic data,” such as metrics that gauge employment, productivity, and inflation, writes Torsten Slok, chief economist at the investment firm Apollo. By other accounts, evidence is mounting that AI is impacting the job market. Research published by Stanford economists last year found that employment was declining for workers whose jobs may be affected by AI, such as software developers and customer-service representatives.
Why it matters: The Gallup results suggest that workers use AI to help them do their jobs, not to do their jobs for them. This can be good both for workers, who may be freed of monotonous tasks, and their employers, which may gain productivity. But AI has the potential to automate some positions entirely. The jury is still out regarding whether AI-driven productivity gains will reduce or increase overall employment.
We’re thinking: While it’s trendy in some circles to forecast massive job losses due to AI, current signals are conflicting, and some show that AI is boosting employment. For instance, a 2025 study by Brookings found that companies that invested in AI hired more workers. There are endless opportunities for workers to stand out by applying AI in imaginative, productive ways.