How Americans are using AI at work, according to a new Gallup poll

AI Adoption Surges Among American Workers, Gallup Survey Finds

Artificial intelligence is rapidly transforming the American workplace, with 12% of employed adults now using AI daily in their jobs, according to a recent Gallup Workforce survey of more than 22,000 U.S. workers.

The survey reveals a significant increase in AI adoption since Gallup began tracking this trend in 2023. Currently, about one-quarter of workers use AI frequently (at least a few times a week), and nearly half use it at least a few times a year. This represents a substantial jump from 2023, when only 21% reported using AI occasionally.

The surge coincides with the commercial boom in generative AI tools like ChatGPT, which can write emails, generate computer code, summarize documents, create images, and answer questions.

For many workers, AI has become an essential job aid. Gene Walinski, a 70-year-old Home Depot associate in New Smyrna Beach, Florida, consults an AI assistant on his personal phone approximately every hour during his shift to better answer customer questions about electrical supplies.

“I think my job would suffer if I couldn’t because there would be a lot of shrugged shoulders and ‘I don’t know’ and customers don’t want to hear that,” Walinski explained.

The technology sector leads in AI adoption, with about 60% of tech workers using AI frequently and 30% doing so daily. This represents significant growth since 2023, though there are signs that adoption rates may be stabilizing after the explosive increase between 2024 and 2025.

In the financial sector, which also shows high AI usage rates, 28-year-old investment banker Andrea Tanzi of Bank of America in New York uses AI tools daily to synthesize documents and data sets that would otherwise take hours to review. Tanzi also utilizes the bank’s internal AI chatbot, Erica, for administrative tasks.

Education is another field embracing AI technology. Joyce Hatzidakis, a 60-year-old high school art teacher in Riverside, California, uses AI chatbots to improve her communications with parents. “I can scribble out a note and not worry about what I say and then tell it what tone I want,” she said. “I’m definitely getting less parent complaints.” She’s even used AI to help write student recommendation letters.

According to a separate Gallup survey from last year, about 60% of employees using AI rely on chatbots or virtual assistants. Approximately 40% use AI to consolidate information or data, generate ideas, or learn new things.

Despite the growing enthusiasm for workplace AI, economists remain divided on its long-term impact on productivity and employment. Sam Manning, a fellow at the Centre for the Governance of AI and co-author of research papers on AI job effects, suggests that many workers in AI-exposed positions have characteristics that make them adaptable.

“Most of the workers that are most highly exposed to AI, who are most likely to have it disrupt their workflows, for good or for bad, have these characteristics that make them pretty adaptable,” Manning said. These workers typically have higher education levels, transferable skills, and financial reserves to weather potential job transitions.

However, Manning’s research has identified approximately 6.1 million U.S. workers who are both heavily exposed to AI and less equipped to adapt. Many are in administrative and clerical positions, with 86% being women. These workers tend to be older and concentrated in smaller cities with fewer career alternatives.

“If their skills are automated, they have less transferable skills to other jobs and they have lower savings, if any savings,” Manning noted. “An income shock could be much more harmful or difficult to manage.”

Despite increasing AI usage, relatively few workers express concern about technology eliminating their jobs. A 2025 Gallup Workforce survey found that half of employees believe it’s “not at all likely” that new technology will eliminate their positions within the next five years, though this represents a decrease from about 60% in 2023.

AI adoption varies significantly across industries. While technology, finance, professional services, and education show high usage rates, service-based sectors like retail, healthcare, and manufacturing report lower AI integration.

The Rev. Michael Bingham, pastor of Faith Community Methodist Church in Jacksonville, Florida, represents those who see clear limitations to AI’s role. After receiving “gibberish” when querying a chatbot about a medieval theologian, Bingham stated he would never use a “soulless” machine to help write his sermons.

“You don’t want a machine, you want a human being, to hold your hand if you’re dying,” Bingham emphasized, highlighting the human elements that remain irreplaceable in many professions.

For workers like Home Depot’s Walinski, AI serves as a complement rather than a replacement. “The human interface part is really what a store like mine works on,” he said. “It’s all about the people.”