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AI may seem all-encompassing, but our latest joint poll with Hudson Pacific reveals a different story. When it comes to AI usage demographics in America, adoption remains highly uneven. Just 40% of Americans say they use AI frequently, and age, race, and education all play a role in who’s most likely to engage with these tools. Understanding those gaps is essential to making sure AI development remains equitable and inclusive.

Key Takeaways

  • AI adoption is stagnating: Only 40% of Americans say they use AI frequently, and nearly half use it rarely or never.

  • Perceptions are split by usage: Frequent users see AI as a net benefit; infrequent users are more likely to view it as a societal threat.

  • Demographics drive differences: Younger adults and non-white Americans are more likely to be frequent AI users than older adults and white Americans with college degrees.

  • Bias is a risk: Because AI systems learn from their users, uneven adoption could reinforce social and cultural biases over time.

Despite the nonstop buzz, only 40% of Americans use AI frequently (daily or weekly), a number virtually unchanged since our last survey. Nearly half of Americans (47%) say they rarely or never use AI. In short, usage has stalled—and it’s not equally distributed.

AI Usage Reflects—and Reinforces—Demographic Gaps

This isn’t just a usage divide—it’s a worldview divide.

  • Frequent users overwhelmingly believe AI will improve quality of life.

  • Infrequent users are far more likely to see AI as a societal threat.

That’s significant. AI learns from the behavior of its users. If only certain groups are influencing its development, we risk encoding and amplifying existing inequalities. In other words, the less diverse the group shaping AI’s future, the more skewed that future may become.

Who’s Using AI—and Who Isn’t?

Some key demographic trends from our data:

  • Age is the strongest predictor of AI use. Americans under 35 are the most frequent users; those 60+ are the least.

  • Non-white Americans are more likely to be frequent users than college-educated white men—and substantially more so than college-educated white women or non-college white Americans of any gender.

Why It Matters

Understanding who is—and isn’t—using AI helps us identify the groups that need to be brought along. Because in an era when AI is reshaping everything from education to employment, being left out means being left behind.