AI Chatbot Use Hits 49%, But Skepticism Stays High via @sejournal, @MattGSouthern

About 60% of U.S. adults say they read AI summaries at the top of search engine results, while about 30% say they don’t, and 10% are unsure.

When a Google AI Overview accompanies search results, people are less likely to click through on a traditional result. A separate Pew study last year found that people who saw an AI summary clicked on a traditional search result 8% of the time, compared with 15% when no AI summary appeared. The difference suggests that, in some cases, Google AI Overviews may replace browsing instead of encouraging it.

Chatbot Adoption & Use

Another 49% of U.S. adults say they use AI chatbots. That’s up from 33% in 2024, though Pew notes the question wording changed between surveys. Taken together, the data points to increased adoption of AI chatbot tools. Roughly one in four U.S. adults use chatbots daily.

When Pew first measured ChatGPT use in 2023, 18% of U.S. adults said they had tried it. Since then, the proportion has grown to 44%. ChatGPT leads the field, followed by Gemini at 24%, Copilot at 17%, Meta AI at 14%, Grok at 8%, Claude at 6%, and Character.ai at 3%.

People mainly use AI chatbots to search for information, but many adults also report using them for work or entertainment. Among all adults, 42% use chatbots to gather information, while 38% of employed adults use them for work tasks, and 25% use them for entertainment. About one-fifth use them for medical advice or diet and fitness information, 13% use them for news, 10% use them for emotional support, and 4% use them for companionship.

How Americans View AI’s Impact

Among U.S. adults overall, 40% predict AI will negatively affect society in the next 20 years. In contrast, far fewer expect a positive impact (16%), while 31% believe it will be equally positive and negative, and 13% are unsure. Expectations vary depending on whether the focus is society broadly or a person’s own life. While 40% predict AI will negatively affect society, a smaller share, 31%, say it will have a negative effect on their personal lives, while 23% expect a positive effect.

About seven in ten U.S. adults believe AI will make personal information less secure, while 3% say this information will become more secure. Another 10% say it won’t make much difference, and 16% are unsure.

Almost two-thirds of adults (63%) say AI is advancing too quickly, while just 2% say it’s advancing too slowly. Nineteen percent say it’s advancing at about the right pace, and 16% are unsure.

In a previous Pew Research Center survey, more adults expressed concern than excitement about the growing use of AI in daily life. That pattern has continued even as chatbot use has grown.

Young Adults: Highest Use, Deepest Doubts

Chatbot users come from all walks of life, but young adults are significantly more likely to use chatbot tools than older adults. Sixty-six percent of adults ages 18 to 29 use AI chatbots, compared with 61% of adults ages 30 to 49, 42% of those ages 50 to 64, and 23% of adults 65 and older. Adults under 50 also say they use chatbot tools more frequently, especially for information searches, work, and entertainment.

Younger adults also express deeper reservations about AI. Almost half of adults ages 18 to 29, 48%, predict that AI will negatively affect society in the next 20 years, versus 39% of adults ages 30 to 49 and 37% of those 50 and older. Younger adults also stand out for saying AI will have a negative impact on their personal lives: 37% of adults under 30 say this, compared with 30% of those ages 30 to 49 and 28% of those 50 and older.

On creativity, young adults are essentially split. Twenty-five percent say chatbots help their creativity, while 20% say these tools hurt it. Older adults lean more positive on this question.

Half The Country Still Doesn’t Use Chatbots

About half of U.S. adults don’t use AI chatbots. Most of those non-users are not planning to start soon. Among people who don’t use chatbots, 67% say they’re unlikely to use one in the next year, while only 5% say they are extremely or very likely to do so.

The survey also asked non-chatbot users why they do not use them. The most common reason is lack of interest: 60% cite this as a major reason. More than half (54%) say they are concerned about how their personal information would be used, and 45% say they do not trust chatbots to give accurate information. Others cite not knowing how to use them or fear of being judged.

There are important differences in non-use by age. Roughly three-quarters of adults 65 and older say they don’t use AI chatbots, compared with about a third of adults under 30.

Confidence In Regulation & Companies

Only a small share of U.S. adults express strong confidence that the U.S. government will regulate AI effectively. Sixty-seven percent have little to no confidence in the government’s ability to regulate AI, up from 62% in 2024.

Democrats are now more skeptical than Republicans when it comes to the government’s ability to regulate AI effectively. In the current survey, 74% of Democrats have little to no confidence in government regulation, compared with 61% of Republicans. In 2024, Republicans were more skeptical. Pew says Democrats’ lack of confidence rose 20 percentage points over that span, while Republicans’ lack of confidence fell from 70% to 61%.

Many U.S. adults also lack confidence in companies’ role in developing AI. About six in ten say they have little to no confidence in U.S. companies to develop and use AI responsibly.

Why This Matters

When six in ten U.S. adults say they read AI summaries in search results and four in ten use chatbots to get information, more people are encountering AI-mediated answers before they reach a website. That does not mean they all avoid clicking, but it does show how much of the search and discovery process is moving into AI-generated surfaces.

Of particular interest moving forward is the gap between people’s skepticism and their behavior. People are using these tools while also telling surveyors they expect AI to hurt society, make personal data less secure, or move too fast. As platforms evolve and more people use them, whether that gap grows wider or shrinks is an open question.

Looking Ahead

Since Pew Research Center administered this survey in February, Google has expanded AI Mode features, including Personal Intelligence, in nearly 200 countries and territories. We’ll see whether that continued expansion changes the relationship between adoption and trust heading into the rest of the year.

Featured Image: Robin Hann/Shutterstock