From searches to companionship, new poll shows how adults are using AI

Generation Z is proving to be the most consistent users of AI for work-related tasks and brainstorming ideas compared to older adults, a new poll by AP-NORC finds.

The US poll, conducted earlier this month by the Associated Press and the University of Chicago’s National Opinion Research Center (NORC), showed that young adults (late teens to early 20s) have been adopting artificial intelligence at much higher rates than older age groups.

While the findings may not be much of a surprise – being Gen Z is the first generation to grow up in a digital world – the ways that Zoomers are using the technology to enhance their lives vary.

The findings show, out of eight categories, that 60% of Americans overall use AI to search for information at least some of the time.

Those numbers jump up to nearly 75% for individuals who are under the age of 30.

Other categories in the survey included idea generation (40%), using it for work (37%), writing emails (34%), creating or editing images (33%), entertainment (30%), shopping (26%), and companionship (16%), the poll states.

Again, those numbers rose for young adults to just about 50% in almost all of those categories, except for the use of AI for companionship, which hovered at 25% for those 18 to 29, compared to only 16% for other adults.

When it comes to brainstorming, only 40% of Americans say they are using AI for work tasks, compared to over 60% of Gen Zers. Compare that to 2 in 10 adults age 60 or older.

Furthermore, AP-NORC said 22% of young adults were using AI to generate ideas at least several times a day. 13% of them reported doing so once a day.

The AP said the results show that “the tech industry’s promises of highly productive AI assistants still haven’t touched most livelihoods after years of promotion and investment.”

However, the poll did not mention if some of the surveyed individuals may be banned from using AI chatbots at work.

Additionally, a Gallup poll from June showed US employee use of AI in the workplace has doubled over the past two years, from 21% to 40%, with white collar jobs showing the most significant increases.

In the search information category, more than a quarter of young adults surveyed said they use AI to search for information at least several times a day, with another 11% saying they did so on average once a day.

The AP-Norc AI usage poll’s overall margin of sampling error is +/- 3.6 percentage points, and 6.6 percentage points for young adult participants, the AP said.