Overall, most American workers (63%) say they don’t use AI much or at all in their job. About one-in-six workers (16%) say at least some of their work is done with AI, including just 2% who say all or most of their work is done with AI. Some 17% of workers have not heard about AI use in the workplace.
Majorities of workers across age groups and education levels say that not much or none of their work is done with AI.
Workers younger than 50 are somewhat more likely to use AI in their job (17% vs. 13% of those ages 50 and older), as are workers with a bachelor’s degree when compared with those who have less education (20% vs. 13%).
Among non-AI users – those who say they don’t use AI at work much or at all, or have not heard about this – about a third (31%) say at least some of their work can be done with AI. This includes 4% who say all or most of their work can be done with AI.
Still, a sizable share of non-AI users (45%) say that not much or none of their job can be done with AI. And another 21% of non-AI users have not heard of AI use in the workplace.
Perceptions about how much work can be done with AI vary by age and education. Non-AI users ages 18 to 49 are more likely than those ages 50 and older to say that at least some of their work can be done with AI (34% vs. 25%).
Non-AI users with at least a bachelor’s degree are twice as likely as those with some college or less education to say the same (44% vs. 22%).
How are AI users and non-AI users different?
A profile of AI users compared with non-AI users reveals key demographic differences between these groups.
Compared with non-AI users, AI users are:
- Younger: 73% are under 50, compared with 65% of non-AI users.
- More educated: 51% have at least a bachelor’s degree, including 22% who have a postgraduate degree. By comparison, 39% of non-AI users have at least a bachelor’s degree, while the majority (61%) have some college or less education.
- More likely to reside in urban areas (29% vs. 24% among non-AI users) and less likely to live in rural areas (16% vs. 22%).
- More likely to work in jobs that involves data processing (63% vs. 42%).
- More likely to be working in the banking, finance, accounting, real estate or insurance industry (10% vs. 6%) and in the information and technology industry (12% vs. 5%).
Have workers received job training related to AI?
At the time of our October 2024 survey, about half of workers (51%) said they had taken a class or gotten extra training for work in the prior 12 months. Within this group, about a quarter (24%) say a training they took was related to AI use.
To the extent that there are differences by age or education, these are very modest. Most workers across age and education groups say the training they took was not related to AI use.
Understanding and knowing how to use AI tools does not rank high among workers when they’re asked about which skills are most important to be successful in today’s economy. About a third of all employed adults (35%) say AI skills are extremely or very important for workers today. AI users are more likely than non-AI users to say this (50% vs 33%).
By comparison, interpersonal skills, written and spoken communication, critical thinking, and basic computer skills are considered extremely or very important by about 70% of workers or more, regardless of their AI use.
