American Workers Embrace Artificial Intelligence at Accelerated Pace
According to a comprehensive new poll, American workers have integrated artificial intelligence into their professional lives at a remarkable speed over recent years. The Gallup Workforce survey, conducted this fall with more than 22,000 U.S. workers, reveals significant shifts in how employees are utilizing AI tools across various industries.
Survey Highlights Widespread AI Usage Patterns
The survey data indicates that approximately 12% of employed adults now use AI daily in their jobs. Furthermore, about one-quarter of workers report using AI at least frequently, defined as several times per week, while nearly half utilize these tools at least a few times annually. This represents a substantial increase from 2023, when only 21% of workers were using AI occasionally, marking the beginning of Gallup's tracking on this subject.
This rapid adoption coincides with the commercial explosion sparked by ChatGPT and similar generative AI platforms. These tools have revolutionized workplace tasks by enabling employees to draft emails, write computer code, summarize lengthy documents, create visual content, and answer complex questions with unprecedented efficiency.
Real-World Applications Across Professions
The survey findings are reflected in diverse workplace scenarios across the country. Gene Walinski, a 70-year-old Home Depot associate in New Smyrna Beach, Florida, exemplifies this trend. He consults an AI assistant on his personal phone approximately every hour during his shift to better assist customers in the electrical department with products he's not completely familiar with.
"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, highlighting how AI has become integral to his customer service approach.
Sector-Specific Adoption Rates Vary Significantly
While AI usage is increasing broadly, adoption remains particularly high in technology-related fields. Approximately six in ten technology workers report frequent AI usage, with about three in ten utilizing these tools daily. The proportion of technology sector employees using AI regularly has grown substantially since 2023, though there are indications that this explosive growth between 2024 and 2025 might be beginning to plateau.
Finance represents another sector with strong AI integration. Andrea Tanzi, a 28-year-old investment banker at Bank of America in New York, uses AI tools daily to synthesize documents and data sets that would otherwise require several hours of manual review. He also employs the bank's internal AI chatbot, Erica, for administrative tasks, demonstrating how financial institutions are developing proprietary AI solutions.
Educational Applications and Professional Services
Majorities of workers in professional services, higher education institutions, and K-12 education report using AI at least several times annually. Joyce Hatzidakis, a 60-year-old high school art teacher in Riverside, California, began experimenting with AI chatbots to refine 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," Hatzidakis described. "And then, when I reread it, if it's not quite right, I can have it edited again. I'm definitely getting less parent complaints."
She initially used ChatGPT before switching to Google's Gemini when her school district adopted it as the official tool. Hatzidakis has even utilized AI to assist with recommendation letters, noting that "there's only so many ways to say a kid is really creative."
Employee Perspectives on AI and Job Security
A separate Gallup Workforce survey from 2025 reveals that despite increasing AI adoption, few employees believe new technology will eliminate their jobs within the next five years. Only half of respondents considered this scenario "not at all likely," though this represents a decrease from approximately six in ten workers expressing this confidence in 2023.
Sam Manning, a fellow at the Centre for the Governance of AI and co-author of research papers on AI job effects for the Brookings Institution and the National Bureau of Economic Research, offered insights into workforce adaptability.
"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 explained. "Workers in those mostly computer-based jobs that involve a lot of AI usage usually have higher levels of education, wider ranges of skill sets that can be applied to different jobs, and they also have higher savings, which is helpful for weathering an income shock if you lose your job."
Vulnerable Worker Populations Identified
Manning's research has identified approximately 6.1 million American workers who face both high AI exposure and limited adaptability resources. Many occupy administrative and clerical positions, with about 86% being women. These workers tend to be older and concentrated in smaller cities like university towns or state capitals, where career transition options are more limited.
"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."
Skepticism and Human-Centric Perspectives
Not all professionals embrace AI integration. Rev. Michael Bingham, pastor of the Faith Community Methodist Church in Jacksonville, Florida, remains skeptical after a chatbot provided "gibberish" regarding medieval theologian Anselm of Canterbury. He refuses to use "soulless" machines for sermon preparation, instead relying on "the power of God" for guidance.
"You don't want a machine, you want a human being, to hold your hand if you're dying," Bingham emphasized. "And you want to know that your loved one was able to hold the hand of a loving human being who cared for them."
Service Sector Adoption and Future Outlook
Reported AI usage remains less common in service-based sectors including retail, healthcare, and manufacturing. Home Depot didn't specifically request that Walinski use AI when he joined the company after decades in the automotive industry, but the home improvement retailer didn't prohibit it either. Walinski remains unconcerned about AI replacing his position.
"The human interface part is really what a store like mine works on," he observed. "It's all about the people."
The AI industry and U.S. government continue promoting workplace and educational adoption, with increased tool purchases necessary to justify substantial investments in energy-intensive AI computing infrastructure. However, economists remain divided about AI's potential productivity benefits and employment impacts.
Survey Methodology Note: Gallup's quarterly workforce surveys were conducted with random samples of adults aged 18 and older working full-time or part-time for U.S. organizations. The most recent survey of 22,368 employed U.S. adults was conducted from October 30 to November 13, 2025, with a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 1 percentage point for all respondents.
