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Only a small minority regularly use AI at their workplaces, although the percentage is growing fast. The use of AI is more prominent in obvious sectors such as tech and finance, where the use of tech in the form of IT and software is already high. Indeed, many employees use AI without being aware of it, and only a small section consciously veers towards new-age tech. Although it is counterintuitive, across several sectors, the traditional ways are still in place, and quite intact, and employees are not scared of AI. These are some of the insights from a recent Gallup Workforce poll, which was conducted in the fall of 2025, and surveyed more than 22,000 American employees. Gallup started these polls in 2023, when AI tools became a raze, and employers and experts pointed to its disruptive tendencies. Over the years, there were numerous studies on AI’s pros and cons.

On an overall basis, 12 per cent of the polled employees use AI daily, and 26 per cent a few times a week. Almost half of them, 46 per cent, said that they use it at least a few times a year. These numbers, according to Gallup, indicate the “impact of the widespread commercial boom that ChatGPT sparked for generative AI tools that can write emails and computer code, summarise long documents, and create images or help answer questions. In many cases, we use AI without being aware of it. For example, each Google search comes with an AI-driven summary answer, followed by the relevant links. Most of us now read this summary, and then click the links if we wish to get more information. Thus, our daily routines are dependent on AI. The same is true for social media use, where AI or AI-like tools help you finish what you wish to type or say textually.

As expected, the use of AI is higher in sectors, where tech was already a major component, like tech and finance. In the case of the tech workers polled, three in 10 use AI daily, and almost six in 10 use it a few times in a week. Nearly eight out of 10 use AI at least a few times a year. However, as the Gallup poll numbers indicate, there was a sharp rise in the usage percentages between late 2024 and early 2025, and the curve has plateaued a bit. This may indicate that AI has possibly hit a saturation point, with most employees, who need to use AI having adapted and adopted it. For the remaining, it may be useful, but is not critical to use AI to retain their jobs, or become more relevant and productive. It may hint that the AI tools in vogue now cannot help the employees further, or can benefit incrementally, which is not an incentive enough to adopt it.

In a sector like finance, the overall AI use, including at least a few times a year, is nearly two out of three polled people. The same is true in sectors like professional services, and colleges or universities, where the usage is more than six out of 10. This is expected as the young college students need to use AI to work better and efficiently, and use of tech among the youngsters is generally high. In an education setup, the youngsters propel the older generation to adopt AI, and be left behind in the social tech race. The same is true of professional services, where tech is critical to be cost- and time-effective to boost earnings, and time management. Finance over the past two decades was led by tech. Most employees are adept at using new software and hardware. It was logical for them to graduate to AI tools to make decisions that are better and more rational.

However, what is more unexpected is that after years of fearing AI, coupled with growing use of it, workers are possibly less scared of the new tech. A separate Gallup poll from 2025 concluded that half of the surveyed individuals claimed that AI was “not at all likely” to eliminate their jobs within the next five years. Only few said that it was “very” or “somewhat” likely that it will. This is because AI’s introduction in several traditional sectors is low. This may be due to low awareness among employers or employees, lack of capital, or an intuitive realisation that AI is not required. This is evident from the fact that the use of AI in service-based sectors like retail and healthcare is “less common.” In such sectors, the human interface and intervention is important, and people do not like to talk to machines or software. In the recent Gallup poll mentioned earlier, only a third of retail employees use AI only a few times a year, and the percentage is around the 40 per cent mark in healthcare, social and community services, and government and public policy. As a counter, one can argue that sectors where tech use is prominent, employees are better equipped, and “usually have higher levels of education, wider ranges of skill sets… and they also have higher savings” to adopt AI easily, logically, and naturally.