On Tuesday, The Associated Press released results from a new AP-NORC poll showing that 60 percent of US adults have used AI to search for information, while only 37 percent of all Americans have used AI for work tasks. Meanwhile, younger Americans are adopting AI tools at much higher rates across multiple categories, including brainstorming, work tasks, and companionship.
The poll found AI companionship remains the least popular application overall, with just 16 percent of adults overall trying it—but the number jumps to a notable 25 percent among the under-30 crowd. AI companionship can have drawbacks that weren’t reflected in the poll, such as excessive agreeability (called sycophancy) and mental health risks, like encouraging delusional thinking.
The poll of 1,437 adults conducted July 10–14 reveals telling generational divides in AI adoption. While 74 percent of adults under 30 use AI for information searches at least some of the time, only the aforementioned 60 percent of all adults have done so. For brainstorming applications, 62 percent of adults under 30 have used AI to come up with ideas, compared with just 20 percent of those 60 or older.
The findings suggest that despite years of tech industry promotion touting AI as a productivity revolution, most Americans’ work lives remain untouched by AI assistants. Roughly one-third of survey respondents use AI for writing emails, creating or editing images, or entertainment. Only 26 percent report using AI for shopping.
Search remains AI’s most common application, though the poll may undercount actual usage since Google automatically generates AI responses at the top of search results, and users may not always recognize when they’re interacting with AI-powered features.