AI adoption is not slowing down, especially in the workplace. More people are using it to do their jobs than ever, according to a new Gallup survey.
Nearly half (45%) of workers are now using AI at least “a few times a year or more,” Gallup says. That’s up from 21% in 2023. The organization’s data comes from 23,068 US adults polled in the third quarter of 2025.
However, the amount of people using AI daily is still relatively small at 10%. That’s trending up, though, and was 8% just one quarter ago.
(Credit: Gallup)
Usage rates vary by industry, and are higher among white-collar knowledge workers than frontline workers. The industries with the highest reported AI use are technology or information systems (76%), finance (58%), and professional services (57%). Meanwhile, adoption is much lower among among retail employees (33%), healthcare (37%), and manufacturing (38%).
The top reasons for using AI are to consolidate information (42%), generate ideas (41%), learn new things (36%), and automate basic tasks (34%). This is about the same as when Gallup first asked this question in Q2 2024, the organization says.
(Credit: Gallup)
The most popular AI tools are chatbots (61%), presumably including ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, and the like. The second most common type are AI tools for writing and editing (36%), followed by coding assistants (14%).
Those who use coding assistants are using them more frequently than others. Same goes or data science, analytics, and other “more advanced or specialized AI tools,” Gallup says. In other words, the slice of workers who are using these specialized tools are hooked on them. That’s not surprising given the rise of vibe coding this year in the tech industry, and the influx of assistants such as OpenAI’s Codex and Anthropic’s Claude Code.
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However, many employees are still unaware of AI in their workplace, with 23% saying they don’t know if their companies have adopted it at all. Individual contributors were more likely (26%) than managers (16%) to say they did not know. Company leaders were most likely to be aware of AI-related initiatives, with only 7% saying they did not know.
(Credit: Gallup)
The rise in AI at work could be one reason OpenAI intends to make enterprise functionalities a “huge theme of 2026,” according to a recent tweet from the company’s cofounder and president Greg Brockman. It faces stiff competition from Microsoft Copilot, Anthropic’s Claude, and others, all of which are seeking to convince companies their products can improve productivity and automate certain positions on the payroll.
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As a news and features writer at PCMag, I cover the biggest tech trends that shape the way we live and work. I specialize in on-the-ground reporting, uncovering stories from the people who are at the center of change—whether that’s the CEO of a high-valued startup or an everyday person taking on Big Tech. I also cover daily tech news and breaking stories, contextualizing them so you get the full picture.
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