Artificial intelligence tools have become a part of so many peoples’ work lives, but a new survey from the University of Iowa finds they’ve become a part of their personal lives, too. 

For many, it’s an even bigger part. 

The survey finds that more people are using generative AI for personal activities and projects than use it for work, suggesting it’s becoming a go-to tech tool at home, as well as the office.

Researchers surveyed 1,000 nationally selected people in December and found that among those familiar with generative AI…

—More than 50% used it for personal activities and projects; only 35% used it at work.

—Even among full-time employees, more people reported they used it for personal activities than work.

—More people feel that gen AI helped them personally than helped them professionally.

—Only 41 respondents indicated they had no familiarity with any AI tool listed in the survey, suggesting that 95% of Americans are now familiar with at least one generative AI tool.

Researchers also found more retired people than they expected use ChatGPT for projects at home. Nine percent of the more than 264 retired respondents reported being frequent users of the technology. Only six percent of retirees had never used it or heard of it.

Co-author Brian An, associate professor of education, said his retired parents have started using AI as a search engine for such tasks as finding recipes or learning about things they see in the news. 

"While the conversation about AI so far has been focused on workplace and education settings, this suggests we should be looking more closely at its impact on retirees,” said Ken Brown, Tippie Children Professor of Management and Entrepreneurship at the Tippie College of Business.

ChatGPT was the best-known generative AI program among respondents, followed by CoPilot and Gemini.

The survey was also conducted with Drew Jauron, doctoral student in the Tippie College of Business, and researchers from College of Education and the University of Iowa Center for Social Science Innovation.

Media contact: Tom Snee, 319-384-0010 (o); 319-541-8434 (c); tom-snee@uiowa.edu