{
  "id": "F-21",
  "url": "https://evy.so/facts/trust-in-ai-output/",
  "chapter": "What Teams Trust",
  "question": "How much do workers trust the output of AI tools at work?",
  "answer": "A quarter to a half of workers trust AI output at work, depending on how strictly trust is defined: 24 to 33 percent clearly trust its quality or accuracy, and 53 percent of employees across 47 countries are willing to trust AI for work. Very few trust it with important decisions: 7 percent of developers in 2026.",
  "range": {
    "low": 24,
    "high": 53,
    "unit": "% of workers who say they trust AI output at work",
    "display": "24–53% of workers trust AI output at work: 24 to 33% firmly, 53% willing to trust it for work"
  },
  "confidence": "medium",
  "confidence_reason": "Three independent creators show the same shape: a minority with firm trust, a large group with conditional trust, and little trust for high-stakes use. The range is wide because the questions differ, and two of the three survey software workers only.",
  "last_checked": "2026-10-14",
  "how_to_read": "Each source asks about trust differently: the quality of AI output (DORA), its accuracy (Stack Overflow 2025), willingness to trust AI for work (KPMG) and when people trust it (Stack Overflow 2026). Where you draw the line matters: counting DORA's somewhat trust moves the figure from 24% to 70%. DORA and Stack Overflow survey software workers, who can test AI output; KPMG covers all occupations. All are self-reports.",
  "sources": [
    {
      "creator": "Google Cloud DORA",
      "title": "State of AI-assisted Software Development 2025 (DORA Report)",
      "year": 2025,
      "sample": "Nearly 5,000 technology professionals, June to July 2025",
      "method": "Online survey: how much did you trust the quality of AI-generated output at work. Google sells AI coding tools.",
      "figure": "24% trust it a lot or a great deal, 46% somewhat, 30% a little or not at all",
      "url": "https://dora.dev/research/2025/dora-report/",
      "quote": "currently report little to no trust in the code generated by AI"
    },
    {
      "creator": "Stack Overflow",
      "title": "2025 Developer Survey: AI",
      "year": 2025,
      "sample": "33,244 developers answering the trust question, mid-2025",
      "method": "Opt-in online survey: how much do you trust the accuracy of AI output in your workflow",
      "figure": "33% trust its accuracy (3.1% highly), 46% distrust it",
      "url": "https://survey.stackoverflow.co/2025/ai",
      "quote": "More developers actively distrust the accuracy of AI tools (46%) than trust it (33%)"
    },
    {
      "creator": "University of Melbourne and KPMG International",
      "title": "Trust, attitudes and use of artificial intelligence: A global study 2025",
      "year": 2025,
      "sample": "32,352 employed people in 47 countries, November 2024 to January 2025",
      "method": "Online survey; willing to trust AI for work purposes, including somewhat willing",
      "figure": "53% trust AI tools for work, from 31% in Japan to 81% in India and Nigeria; 46% of all people are willing to trust AI in general",
      "url": "https://mbs.edu/-/media/PDF/Research/Trust_in_AI_Report.pdf",
      "quote": "About half (53%) report trusting AI tools for work purposes"
    },
    {
      "creator": "Stack Overflow",
      "title": "2026 Developer Survey: AI data",
      "year": 2026,
      "sample": "14,304 developers answering this question, June to August 2026",
      "method": "New 2026 question: when do you trust AI output in your workflow",
      "figure": "48% trust it when they can easily verify it; 6.6% trust it for important work decisions; 12.3% do not trust it for most work tasks",
      "url": "https://survey.stackoverflow.co/2026/ai/data",
      "quote": "48% trust AI when they can easily verify it"
    }
  ],
  "related_findings": [
    {
      "question": "Do workers trust AI with important decisions?",
      "answer": "Rarely. In 2026, 48% of developers trust AI output when they can easily verify it, and only 6.6% trust it for important work decisions (4% among early-career developers). The pattern holds outside software: people trust AI most where the result is easy to check.",
      "sources": []
    },
    {
      "question": "Is trust in AI rising or falling?",
      "answer": "Falling a little in the countries tracked longest. Across 47 countries, 46% of people are willing to trust AI in general, while 65% believe it gives accurate output, so trust in AI's answers runs ahead of trust in AI overall. In the 17 countries surveyed in both 2022 and 2024, willingness to rely on AI fell from 52% to 43%.",
      "sources": []
    }
  ],
  "numbers_you_may_have_seen": [
    {
      "claim": "Only 3% of developers trust AI (Stack Overflow).",
      "what_the_source_says": "3.1% highly trust the accuracy of AI output. Including those who somewhat trust it, 33% trust it, and 46% distrust it."
    },
    {
      "claim": "Most workers don't trust AI (KPMG).",
      "what_the_source_says": "The 54% who are wary combines unwilling and ambivalent people, asked about AI in general. Among employees asked about AI for work, 53% are willing to trust it."
    },
    {
      "claim": "30% of developers don't trust AI-generated code (DORA).",
      "what_the_source_says": "The 30% is a little trust (23%) plus none at all (7%). Only 7% have no trust at all."
    }
  ],
  "citation": "EVY (2026). How much do workers trust the output of AI tools at work? The AI at Work Fact Book, F-21. https://evy.so/facts/trust-in-ai-output/ (last checked October 14, 2026). CC BY 4.0.",
  "license": "CC BY 4.0"
}