Half of American employees now use artificial intelligence in their jobs, with active daily or weekly use reaching 28% in the first quarter of 2026, according to a Gallup poll of 23,717 US workers.
The figure marks a sharp rise from 21% when Gallup began tracking workplace AI use in the second quarter of 2023, and a 4 percentage point increase on the final quarter of 2025.
Daily users reached a record high of 13% this quarter.
The findings arrive as AI adoption moves from early experimentation into routine use, with 65% of employees at firms deploying AI saying the technology has had a positive impact on productivity and efficiency, including 16% who described the impact as extremely positive.
A further 21% said AI is transforming how work gets done, while 10% reported a negative impact.
The data also captures a more disruptive picture of AI in the workplace.
At companies using AI, 27% of employees reported large or very large disruption to their work over the past year, compared with 12% at firms not deploying the technology.
Staffing effects were mixed: AI-using firms were more likely to be expanding headcount, with 34% of employees at those companies reporting new hires against 28% at non-AI firms, but also more likely to be cutting staff, with 23% reporting headcount reductions versus 16% at firms without AI.
Related reading
- Nvidia says the open versus proprietary AI debate is the wrong argument
- From Vera Rubins, Blackwell, Nemotron, NemoClaw, to Isaac and Cosmos - here's a whistlestop guide to NVIDIA's…
- Nvidia partners with energy giants to make AI data centres flex with the power grid
The pattern suggests AI adoption is simultaneously accelerating growth and restructuring workforces rather than producing a single uniform outcome across employers.
Gallup's results indicate that employees are finding practical task-level applications for AI at growing rates, even as the technology remains a source of significant disruption and uncertainty across American workplaces.
The recap
- 50% of U.S. employees used AI in their role.
- Daily or weekly AI use reached 28% in Q1 2026.
- 65% of employees at AI-using firms report positive productivity impact.
