Quarterly Update
A message from Pew Research Center President Michael Dimock · Subscribe ↗
How we are studying AI – and navigating it ourselves
Hello friends,
This year has ushered in a wave of advancements in artificial intelligence. From helping doctors diagnose disease to quickly answering everyday questions, AI is the latest technological development reshaping large parts of our lives. Pew Research Center has been studying this rapid evolution of AI and responding to it in our own work.
1. We’re studying how public views of AI are changing.
As AI becomes a bigger part of daily life, it’s important to understand how people are encountering it. Thanks to the foresight and expertise of our researchers, we started studying AI a decade ago, when the topic still felt like science fiction. A generous bequest allowed us to commit to more regularly tracking public opinion about AI starting in 2021.
Our latest study explores how Americans view AI’s impact on people and society. While a majority are open to AI assistance with everyday tasks, many also seek greater control over its use and worry about its impact on people’s relationships and creative thinking.
As AI continues to expand, you’ll see more from us on how Americans are using it (or avoiding it) and what they’re hoping for from companies, public policy and the technology itself.
2. We’re using artificial intelligence to do some research – and have been for a long time.
Our Data Labs team has used large language models and machine learning tools to perform specialized research for years, but recent developments in AI have supercharged these models’ capabilities.
For example, they’re opening up new ways to analyze large amounts of audio and video in a timely way. We used these tools to categorize more than 125,000 TikTok accounts based on the content of their recent posts.
Looking ahead, we’re committed to exploring how AI can enhance our efforts to produce rigorous, transparent and people-centered insights into our shared world.
3. We’re making our research more easily discoverable to AI bots.
As more Americans get information from AI-powered search and chatbots, we’re working to ensure that Pew Research Center remains the primary source for AI bots seeking our information.
We’re doing a lot of things behind the scenes to make our work “machine readable,” so that it transmits clearly and accurately in the AI systems that students, decision-makers and the curious public are increasingly turning to for information.
But rest assured, we remain a human-first organization, where trained and experienced humans guide the design, execution and analysis of our research. After all, our audiences are people too. (You can read more about our approach to large language models on our Decoded blog.)
4. We are deeply grateful for your support.
I want to especially thank those of you who have financially supported our work by donating on our website. We’re developing a study on how teens are adapting to AI, and this work is possible thanks in part to your support.
Our research on teenagers is widely circulated and cited as we all seek to understand “the next generation.” And as any parent knows, teens are ahead of the curve when it comes to using new technologies, so I’m sure this research will tell us a lot about how AI is going to reshape our schools, jobs and social lives.
What about you? In this fast-moving space, your ideas can help us set our sights on the right questions. What questions do you think we should be asking about how AI is affecting work, family, education, democracy and other aspects of life? Please reply to this email to share your thoughts. I look forward to hearing from you.
All my best,
Michael Dimock
President, Pew Research Center
How Americans view AI and its impact on people and society
AI tools are now playing a role in many aspects of life and society, spanning politics, the arts, the workplace and beyond. And while Americans express some openness to AI’s potential benefits, they’re concerned about its impact on some human abilities.
34% of U.S. adults have used ChatGPT, about double the share in 2023
Use of ChatGPT for work, to learn something new or for entertainment has risen since March 2023. Adults under 30 are especially likely to use the chatbot in these ways.
Google users are less likely to click on links when an AI summary appears in the results
In our analysis of March 2025 browsing data, Google users who encountered an AI summary in their search results were less likely to click on links to other websites than users who did not see a summary.
