What share of workers use generative AI at work?
About 40 to 50 percent of US workers now use generative AI for their job, depending on how the question is asked. Daily use is much smaller: about 14 to 15 percent of all workers, or a quarter to a third of the people who use it.
Across all 4 studies: 38 to 52% across the three main surveys.
- High confidence
- 4 primary sources
- 2025 to 2026
- Last checked
Every study on one scale
Chart values as text
- Scale: % of US workers using AI for work. Shaded range: 40–50%; dashed, 38–52%: 38% to 52%.
- St. Louis Fed survey (2026): 39.2% last week, 45.2% for their job
- Gallup (2026): 52% (a few times a year or more)
- Pew (2026): 38% (chatbots, ever)
- Pew, stricter question (2025): 21% (some of their work done with AI)
Why high confidence: Three independent US surveys with different samples and wording land in the same range in the first half of 2026, and all three show the same rising trend. The width of the range comes from how each one defines use.
Sources
| Study | Creator | Year | Sample | Method | Figure | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Real-Time Population Survey: Generative AI Adoption Tracker (FRED series RPSGENAIUSAGESHARELWWORK) | Alexander Bick (St. Louis Fed), Adam Blandin (Vanderbilt) and David Deming (Harvard); data published by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis | 2026 | Nationally representative online survey of US adults aged 18 to 64, May 2026 wave | Self-reported. Asks whether people use generative AI for their job, and on which workdays last week. | 45.2% use generative AI for their job; 39.2% used it for work last week (28.2% in August 2024); 13.7% every workday last week “Did you use Generative AI for your job LAST WEEK?” | fred.stlouisfed.org ↗ |
| Organizational AI Adoption Jumps Six Points (Q2 2026 workforce study) | Gallup | 2026 | 22,573 US employees, 6 to 20 May 2026 | Probability-based Gallup Panel web survey. Asks about AI in general, by frequency. | 52% use AI at work a few times a year or more, 30% a few times a week or more, 15% daily “As of May 2026, 15% of U.S. employees use AI daily in their role,” | gallup.com ↗ |
| Americans and AI 2026: Chatbots, Smart Devices and Views on Impact | Pew Research Center | 2026 | 5,119 US adults, 17 to 23 February 2026 | American Trends Panel, probability-based. Asks whether people ever use AI chatbots for tasks at work. | 38% of employed adults use AI chatbots for tasks at work “38% of employed adults report using chatbots for tasks at work.” | pewresearch.org ↗ |
| 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, 2 to 8 September 2025 | Asks how much of a worker's own job is done with AI. A stricter question, so it sits below the others. | 21% say at least some of their work is done with AI, up from 16% in October 2024 “21% of U.S. workers say at least some of their work is done with AI” | pewresearch.org ↗ |
How often do workers who use AI use it?
A quarter to a third of them use it every workday, and a little over half use it at least weekly. In May 2026, 15% of all US employees used AI daily and 30% a few times a week or more (Gallup); 13.7% used generative AI every workday of the previous week (St. Louis Fed survey). On days they use it, about a third of US users spend an hour or more with it. The among-user shares are our division of the published figures.
| Study | Creator | Year | Sample | Method | Figure | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Rapid Adoption of Generative AI (NBER Working Paper 32966) | Alexander Bick, Adam Blandin and David Deming | 2025 | 1,918 employed generative AI users, August and November 2024 | Self-reported days of use last week and minutes per day of use | 34% of work users used it every workday last week; on days used, 32% spent an hour or more “34 percent used it every workday in the previous week,” | nber.org ↗ |
| Still Waters, Rapid Currents: Early Labor Market Transformation under Generative AI (NBER Working Paper 33777) | Anders Humlum (Chicago Booth) and Emilie Vestergaard (University of Copenhagen), with Statistics Denmark | 2026 | About 25,000 workers in 11 AI-exposed occupations, late 2024 | Survey linked to Danish government records | 16% of workers use AI chatbots daily and 35% weekly; daily use is 7% where employers do nothing and 28% where they encourage use and provide tools and training “have used AI chatbots at work at least once, and 7% use them daily” | nber.org ↗ |
What share of workers in the EU use generative AI for work?
21.8% of employed people in the EU used generative AI tools for work in the three months before the 2025 survey, according to Eurostat. The often quoted 15% is the share of everyone aged 16 to 74, including people who are not working.
| Study | Creator | Year | Sample | Method | Figure | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Individuals: use of generative AI tools (dataset isoc_ai_iaiu) | Eurostat | 2026 | EU household ICT survey, all 27 member states, 2025 | Official statistics; self-reported use in the previous 3 months, by purpose | 21.8% of employed people used generative AI for work; 15.4% of all people aged 16 to 74 “Use of generative AI tools: for professional (work) purposes” | ec.europa.eu ↗ |
Numbers you may have seen
These figures circulate widely. Here is what the original source says.
- 75% of workers use AI at work (Microsoft). Microsoft's 2024 survey covered desk-based knowledge workers in an online panel across 31 markets. It does not describe the whole workforce.
- Half of US workers use AI at work (Gallup). Gallup's 52% counts people who use AI a few times a year or more. 30% use it a few times a week and 15% daily.
- 16% of US workers use AI (Pew). That is October 2024, on Pew's strictest question. The same question gave 21% in September 2025.
- 15% of Europeans use AI for work (Eurostat). That share counts everyone aged 16 to 74, revised to 15.4%. Among employed people it is 21.8%.
- Half of workers use AI daily. We found no source for it. Daily use is 14 to 15% of US workers.
More from Who Uses 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-1712–24 ptsWho uses AI at work more, by age, education and income?
- 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?
The whole chapter · Chapter poster · All of The AI at Work Fact Book