Who uses AI at work more, by age, education and income?
College graduates use AI at work 12 to 24 percentage points more than workers without a degree, and workers 50 and older trail younger colleagues by 4 to 20 points in the US. The income gap is the widest: across 47 countries, 83 percent of high-income employees use AI at work against 34 percent of low-income employees.
- High confidence
- 5 primary sources
- 2025
- Last checked
Every study on one scale
Chart values as text
- Scale: points gap, college graduates against no degree. Shaded range: 12–24 points.
- Pew (2025): 12 points (28% against 16%)
- Bick, Blandin and Deming (2025): 17.4–23.8 points
- KPMG and Melbourne, 47 countries (2025): 24 points (68% against 44%)
Why high confidence: Four independent creators with different methods agree on the direction and roughly the size of the education gap. The exact size depends on how use is defined, and the income gap rests mainly on one survey.
Studies without a figure on this scale are listed in the table only.
Sources
| Study | Creator | Year | Sample | Method | Figure | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| About 1 in 5 U.S. workers now use AI in their job, up since last year | Pew Research Center | 2025 | 5,010 US workers, September 2025 | Strict question: at least some of one's work is done with AI | Bachelor's degree or more 28%, some college or less 16% | pewresearch.org ↗ |
| The Rapid Adoption of Generative AI (St. Louis Fed Working Paper 2024-027F, revised October 2025) | Alexander Bick (St. Louis Fed), Adam Blandin (Vanderbilt) and David Deming (Harvard) | 2025 | 6,935 employed US adults aged 18 to 64, August and November 2024 | Nationally representative online survey; ever used generative AI for work | Less than college 23.7%, bachelor's 41.1%, graduate degree 47.5%; ages 50 to 64 at 22.6% against about 35% for younger workers “use genAI at roughly twice the rate of non-college educated workers” | doi.org ↗ |
| Trust, attitudes and use of artificial intelligence: A global study 2025 | University of Melbourne and KPMG International | 2025 | 32,352 employed people in 47 countries, November 2024 to January 2025 | Online survey; any intentional AI use at work, even every few months. Income tiers are set within each country. | University educated 68% against 44% without; ages 18 to 34 at 72% against 40% at 55+; high income 83% against low income 34% “Employees who are younger, AI trained, university-educated, higher-income earners and managers are more likely” | mbs.edu ↗ |
| 34% of U.S. adults have used ChatGPT, about double the share in 2023 | Pew Research Center | 2025 | Employed adults in a survey of 5,123 US adults, February to March 2025 | Ever used ChatGPT specifically for work | Ages 18 to 29 at 38% against 18% at 50+; postgraduates 45% against 17% with high school or less “38% of employed adults ages 18 to 29 say they have used ChatGPT” | pewresearch.org ↗ |
| The unequal adoption of ChatGPT exacerbates existing inequalities among workers (PNAS) | Anders Humlum (Chicago Booth) and Emilie Vestergaard (University of Copenhagen) | 2025 | About 18,000 workers in 11 AI-exposed occupations in Denmark, late 2023 | Survey linked to government records; comparisons within each occupation | Each extra year of age lowers the chance of having used ChatGPT for work by 0.7 points; higher earners use it more “we find younger and less experienced workers are more likely to use ChatGPT” | pnas.org ↗ |
Do older workers use AI less?
Yes. In the US, workers 50 and older trail younger colleagues by 4 to 20 points depending on the measure: 13% against 17% on Pew's strict question (October 2024), 22.6% against about 35% in the St. Louis Fed survey (2024), and 18% against 38% for ChatGPT among the youngest (Pew, 2025). Across 47 countries the gap is 32 points (72% of ages 18 to 34 against 40% at 55 and older).
Do higher earners and managers use AI more?
Yes. Across 47 countries, 83% of high-income employees use AI at work against 34% of low-income employees, and 77% of managers against 34% of manual workers (KPMG and University of Melbourne). In the US, use rises with earnings up to about the top fifth, then falls slightly (St. Louis Fed survey). Gallup found leaders twice as likely as individual contributors to use AI frequently (33% against 16%, 2025).
| Study | Creator | Year | Sample | Method | Figure | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AI Use at Work Has Nearly Doubled in Two Years | Gallup | 2025 | US employees, Gallup Panel, May 2025 | Self-reported frequency of AI use, by job level and job type | Frequent AI use: leaders 33%, individual contributors 16%; white-collar 27%, production and front-line 9% “They are twice as likely as individual contributors (16%) to say they use AI” | gallup.com ↗ |
Numbers you may have seen
These figures circulate widely. Here is what the original source says.
- 40% of college graduates use AI at work against 20% of others (St. Louis Fed). That was the February 2025 draft. After reweighting, the October 2025 revision reports 41.1% (bachelor's) and 47.5% (graduate) against 23.7%.
- 83% of high-income US workers use AI. The 83% pools 47 countries, sets income tiers within each country, and counts use every few months.
- 85% of Gen Z use AI at work, against 73% of Boomers (Microsoft). Those are the shares of AI users in each generation who bring their own AI tools. They say nothing about how many people use AI.
More from Who Uses AI at Work
- F-1440–50%What share of workers use generative AI at work?
- F-1540–52%What do people use AI for at work?
- F-1678–85%Which occupations and industries use AI the most?
- F-185–16 ptsIs there a gender gap in AI use at work, and how large is it?
- F-1950–78%How many workers use AI tools their employer did not provide, and how many hide it?
- F-2042–49%How many employers provide AI tools, guidance or training to staff?
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