A growing number of American employees are incorporating artificial intelligence into their daily work routines, yet resistance to the technology remains strong across many industries.
A recent Gallup survey reveals that while AI adoption is increasing in workplaces nationwide, concerns about job security have also risen. Many employees who avoid AI cite personal preference for traditional methods, ethical concerns, or data security worries as their primary reasons.
The February survey highlights a clear division in how artificial intelligence is transforming American work environments. Some employees view it as a revolutionary tool for boosting productivity, while others fear its potential negative consequences.
Northern Virginia social worker Scott Segal incorporates AI regularly to locate healthcare resources for his elderly and at-risk clients. Despite recognizing the irreplaceable value of human compassion in his role, he anticipates AI may eventually make his position obsolete.
“I’m planning ahead,” Segal, 53, explained. “I think everyone who works in a replaceable field or trade should be planning ahead.”
The survey found that approximately 30% of workers utilize AI tools frequently, meaning daily or several times weekly. An additional 20% are occasional users, accessing AI resources monthly or yearly.
Gallup’s research indicates that roughly 40% of employees report their companies have implemented AI technologies to enhance organizational operations. Among these workers, about two-thirds describe AI’s impact on their personal productivity and workplace efficiency as “extremely” or “somewhat” positive.
Management-level employees using AI report more positive productivity outcomes compared to individual contributors. Approximately 70% of leaders who use AI at least several times annually say the technology has improved their work efficiency, while just over half of individual contributors report similar benefits.
Louisiana employment attorney Elizabeth Bloch from Baton Rouge utilizes ChatGPT to help “draft letters or emails in a diplomatic way because it’s a very adversarial profession and sometimes you get heated.”
AI technologies demonstrate greater benefits for employees in management, healthcare, and technology sectors compared to service industries. About 60% of workers in these fields using AI report at least “somewhat” improved productivity, compared to 45% in service positions.
Company availability of AI tools doesn’t guarantee employee adoption. Approximately half of American workers use AI once yearly or never, according to Gallup’s findings.
Bloch has experimented with AI for legal research but discovered it tends to hallucinate, or generate false information, even when using specialized legal AI platforms. She worries that attorneys already struggling with proper case law research and citation “are going to be bad at using AI, because you’re not using the right prompts,” potentially leading to judicial sanctions for incorrect citations.
Among workers with access to company AI tools who choose not to use them, 46% prefer maintaining their current work methods. About 40% of non-users cite ethical opposition to AI, data privacy concerns, or doubt about AI’s usefulness for their specific work.
Roughly 25% of these non-users have tried AI at work but found it unhelpful, while about 20% feel unprepared to use AI effectively.
Maryland contract administrator Thuy Pisone, who works for a federal government contractor, uses AI weekly for routine tasks but avoids it for work she can already perform well.
“I have heard from my colleagues that we could use AI to put together our PowerPoint slides,” Pisone noted. “I’m a little biased in that, well, I could put my own PowerPoints together. I don’t need help because it took me time to hone up my skill.”
While less significant as a reason for avoiding workplace AI, the poll also discovered increasing American worker anxiety about technology-driven job displacement.
About 18% of American workers consider it “very” or “somewhat” likely their current position will be eliminated within five years due to new technology, automation, robotics, or AI. This represents an increase from 15% in 2025. Employees at companies that have adopted AI express even greater concern, with 23% viewing job elimination as at least “somewhat” likely in coming years.
A March Fox News poll found that approximately 60% of registered voters believe AI will eliminate more positions than it creates over the next five years. Only about 10% expect it will generate more jobs, while roughly one-third say it’s premature to determine. About 70% of employed voters report being “not very” or “not at all” worried about AI eliminating their current job.
Segal, the Virginia social worker, has developed a backup plan if AI replaces his role: launching a “health care chaperone service” that physically accompanies patients between appointments, particularly when they’ve been sedated and lack family support for transportation.
“I don’t think that’s something that will be replaced for another maybe 10 or 15 years, until robots are embodied with AI,” Segal said. “I do believe that AI is going to displace most people’s employment functions and I question what people will do for livelihood at that point.”
Meanwhile, he’s been consulting AI chatbots for retirement savings strategies.
Gallup’s quarterly workforce surveys used a random sample of adults 18 and older working full-time and part-time for U.S. organizations, drawn from Gallup’s probability-based panel. The most recent survey of 23,717 employed American adults was conducted February 4-19, 2026, with a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 0.9 percentage points.
