Lead
New Gallup survey results released this fall show a rapid rise in workplace use of artificial intelligence among U.S. employees. Between Oct. 30 and Nov. 13, 2025, 22,368 employed adults were asked about AI use; 12% reported daily use, roughly one-quarter reported using AI frequently (several times a week), and nearly half said they use it at least a few times a year. The findings reflect broad adoption across tech, finance and education but show lower usage in retail, health care and manufacturing, with a sampling margin of error of ±1 percentage point.
Key Takeaways
- Sample and timing: Gallup queried 22,368 employed U.S. adults from Oct. 30–Nov. 13, 2025; margin of error ±1 percentage point.
- Usage levels: 12% of employed adults use AI daily; roughly 25% use it frequently (a few times a week); nearly half use it at least a few times a year.
- Sector differences: About 6 in 10 technology workers use AI frequently and roughly 3 in 10 tech workers use it daily; finance and education also report high usage.
- Common tools and tasks: Chatbots/virtual assistants are used by ~6 in 10 workplace AI users; ~4 in 10 use AI to consolidate information, generate ideas or learn.
- Uneven vulnerability: Research cited identifies ~6.1 million U.S. workers heavily exposed to AI who lack easy pathways to transition, many in administrative roles and predominantly women.
- Perceived job risk: Half of workers say job loss from automation or AI is ‘not at all likely’ in the next five years, down from ~6 in 10 in 2023.
- Everyday examples: Workers from a Home Depot associate to a Bank of America analyst and K–12 teachers report using AI for customer queries, document synthesis and communications.
Background
The surge in workplace AI follows the commercial expansion of generative models after tools such as ChatGPT became widely available in 2023 and 2024. Businesses invested heavily in integrating AI for tasks that range from drafting emails and summarizing documents to coding and image generation. That commercial momentum accelerated deployments across many white-collar sectors while vendors and some public agencies promoted AI adoption in schools and workplaces.
Gallup began asking about workplace AI in 2023; at that time about 21% of workers reported at least occasional use. The 2025 poll shows a marked increase in daily and frequent use, reflecting both broader tool availability and organizational pilots or internal chatbots such as Bank of America’s Erica. At the same time, energy and infrastructure needs for large-scale AI remain substantial, creating incentives for continued sales and integration by vendors and institutions.
Main Event
The Gallup Workforce survey, fielded Oct. 30–Nov. 13, 2025, asked members of Gallup’s probability-based panel about AI use on the job. Twelve percent of employed adults reported daily AI use, and about one-quarter said they use AI frequently (at least a few times a week). Nearly half said they use AI at least a few times a year. Those figures contrast with 2023 baseline responses—about 21% reporting at least occasional use—indicating a sustained uptake over two years.
Usage concentration is uneven. Technology-sector employees report the highest rates: approximately 6 in 10 say they use AI frequently, and roughly 3 in 10 report daily use. Finance professionals, university staff and many in professional services also report relatively high adoption. By contrast, retail, health care and manufacturing workers reported lower rates of routine AI use in this survey.
The survey includes illustrative interviews: Gene Walinski, a 70-year-old Home Depot associate in New Smyrna Beach, Florida, says he consults an AI assistant on his phone about once every hour during shifts to answer product questions. At Bank of America in New York, 28-year-old investment banker Andrea Tanzi reports daily use of AI to synthesize documents and datasets and to run administrative queries through the bank’s internal chatbot. A high-school art teacher, Joyce Hatzidakis, describes using chatbots to tidy parent communications and help draft recommendation letters.
Gallup’s separate data show tool types: roughly 6 in 10 employees who use AI turn to chatbots or virtual assistants, while about 4 in 10 use AI for consolidating information, generating ideas or learning new material. The pattern suggests conversational interfaces remain the dominant entry point for workplace AI adoption.
Analysis & Implications
Rising AI use reflects both supply-side forces—wider availability of generative models and vendor push—and demand-side drivers, including efficiency gains for routine cognitive tasks. Employers and toolmakers argue these tools can shorten review cycles, reduce administrative burdens and free workers for higher-value work. Yet measured productivity gains at an economy-wide level remain debated among economists.
Research cited by experts points to a split outcome across the workforce. Workers heavily exposed to AI tend to have higher education, diverse skill sets and financial cushions, making re-skilling or role shifts more feasible. Those characteristics imply many white-collar tech and finance workers may adapt more easily to AI-augmented workflows, while realizing benefits from complementary tasks.
Conversely, studies identify roughly 6.1 million U.S. workers who are both heavily exposed to AI and less able to adapt. Many are in administrative or clerical roles, are older, concentrated in smaller cities and are disproportionately women. For these workers an income shock from automation could be more damaging, given lower transferable skills and limited savings, underscoring the need for targeted retraining and social supports.
Policy choices will matter. If employers and public institutions prioritize reskilling, portable benefits and localized job-creation, displacement risks can be mitigated. Without such measures, geographic and demographic concentrations of vulnerability could deepen inequality and slow economic mobility in affected regions.
Comparison & Data
| Metric | 2023 | 2025 (Gallup) |
|---|---|---|
| At least occasional AI use | 21% | — |
| Use AI daily | — | 12% |
| Use AI frequently (few times/week) | — | ~25% (roughly one-quarter) |
| Use AI at least a few times a year | — | ~48% (nearly half) |
These figures come from Gallup’s probability-based panel question series; where Gallup provided categorical labels (daily, frequent, a few times a year) this piece reports both precise and approximate values to reflect Gallup’s wording and the survey’s summary statistics.
Reactions & Quotes
“I think my job would suffer if I couldn’t [use AI] because there would be a lot of shrugged shoulders and ‘I don’t know,’ and customers don’t want to hear that.”
Gene Walinski, Home Depot store associate
Walinski described hourly reliance on an AI assistant to answer product questions in the store’s electrical department, saying the tool helps him serve customers more confidently.
“Most workers most exposed to AI have characteristics that make them adaptable, but a distinct group is vulnerable and needs support.”
Sam Manning, Centre for the Governance of AI (research fellow)
Manning summarized research identifying about 6.1 million workers at higher risk of disruption who have fewer transition options and lower savings cushions, emphasizing the policy challenge.
“You don’t want a machine; you want a human being to hold your hand if you’re dying.”
Rev. Michael Bingham, pastor
Bingham recounted a negative experience with a chatbot and said he prefers human judgment in pastoral care, illustrating limits of AI acceptance in some roles and contexts.
Unconfirmed
- Whether the apparent slowdown in adoption growth between 2024 and 2025 represents a lasting plateau or a short-term fluctuation remains unclear and requires additional waves of data.
- Precise economy-wide productivity gains attributable to workplace AI are not yet settled; studies report mixed short-term results and estimates vary by methodology.
- The exact distribution of internal corporate AI tools and their governance frameworks across the U.S. workforce is incompletely documented in public data.
Bottom Line
Gallup’s late-2025 survey shows that AI moved from occasional experimentation to routine use for a growing share of American workers, with notable concentration in technology, finance and education. The majority of day-to-day adopters rely on conversational interfaces and tools that streamline information tasks, which suggests concrete efficiency gains for many knowledge workers.
At the same time, research and the survey highlight uneven risk: a sizable group of workers—many older, in administrative roles and concentrated in smaller cities—face higher exposure with fewer options to adapt. Policymakers, employers and educators will play decisive roles in shaping whether AI amplifies prosperity broadly or deepens existing disparities.
Sources
- AP News (news report summarizing Gallup findings)
- Gallup (official polling organization; Gallup Panel and workforce surveys)
- Brookings Institution (think tank; related research on AI and labor markets)
- National Bureau of Economic Research (academic working papers cited by experts)
- Centre for the Governance of AI (research organization; expert commentary)