Half of U.S. Workers Say They Use AI at Work; Leaders More Likely to View It Positively

Quick take

It has been reported that, for the first time in Gallup’s measurement, half of employed American adults say they use artificial intelligence at work at least a few times a year. The Feb. 4–19, 2026, survey of 23,717 U.S. employees finds 13% use AI daily and 28% use it a few times a week or more — a clear jump from last quarter. Organizational adoption is rising too: 41% of employees say their workplace has integrated AI tools, up three points.

Hiring, layoffs and the scent of disruption

AI adoption is coinciding with sharper staffing shifts. Employees in organizations that have adopted AI are more likely to report significant workplace disruption (27% vs. 17% in non-adopting firms) and to say their employers are both hiring more (34% vs. 28%) and cutting staff (23% vs. 16%). Big employers skew the picture: among firms with 10,000+ employees, AI adopters report slightly more reductions (33%) than expansions (30%), whereas large non-adopters report more hiring. So which story sticks — growth or job loss? Both, it seems, and that tension is the emotional heart of this data.

Productivity gains — real, but not revolutionary

It has been reported that employees in AI-enabled workplaces broadly report productivity improvements: 65% say AI has made them more efficient, with 16% calling the effect extremely positive and fewer than one in 10 reporting negative impacts. Frequent users see the biggest gains, suggesting clear use cases drive continued adoption. Yet Gallup finds limited evidence that AI has fundamentally changed how work gets done across organizations — more of an efficiency play than a full-scale reinvention.

Fear and leadership

Worker anxiety is real: 18% of all U.S. employees say their job is somewhat or very likely to be eliminated by AI or automation within five years, rising to 23% among those in AI-adopting organizations. It has been reported that leaders are more likely to view AI’s impact positively, which tracks an age-old pattern — the folks steering the ship see the coordinates differently than those on deck. Not quite a sci-fi apocalypse, then, but not business as usual either.

Sources: gallup.com