The Generative AI Popularity Content: An Update on Consumer Familiarity
March 17, 2026
More AI-Backed Tools and the Impact of Proposed Census Changes
March 24, 2026
While it seems like generative AI is everywhere, the real gauge of whether it’s hype or real is whether people are actually using it. We have been tracking consumers’ generative AI familiarity and usage and have found that both fluctuate over time.
Let’s get into the latest consumer usage findings:
Overall
Overall, ChatGPT stands as the most widely used generative AI tool, with 41% reporting use in the past 30 days among US consumers. At the same time, a substantial portion of respondents (35%) indicate that they have not used any of the listed tools. This places non-usage nearly on par with the top individual tools.
Wave-Over-Wave
Looking at the data over the last four waves of our research-on-research, we see some fluctuations with consumers’ usage across all generative AI platforms. Most platforms experienced usage increases over the first three waves, but saw declines in the fourth wave.
Gender
Male consumers use generative AI platforms at a higher rate than females, across all platforms. Claude had the smallest gap, but overall usage was under 10% for both genders. Women were more likely to have not used any platform in the past 30 days, 17% higher than males.
Age
Age reveals some of the strongest variations in usage. Younger respondents report the highest usage, with 54% of those aged 18–24 and 55% of those aged 25–34 using ChatGPT. This declines steadily with age, dropping to 33% among those 45–64 and 18% among those 65 and older.
Gemini follows a similar pattern, peaking at 44% among those aged 35–44 before declining to 20% among the oldest group. Claude remains modest across all ages but is most used among those aged 25–44. Non-usage increases sharply with age, reaching 61% among those 65 and older.
Income
The usage of generative AI increases steadily as income increases, with consumers reporting an income of over $100,000 having the highest usage of all platforms. In the same vein, the percentage of consumers using none of the platforms declines as income increases.
Ethnicity
There is some variation of usage depending on ethnicity and platform. Usage of ChatGPT varies up to 14 points, where usage of Claude only varies about 2 percentage points. CoPilot’s usage is similar among most ethnicities, except Asian, whose usage is between 7 and 10 points higher than others.
Panel
Consumer’s generative AI usage varies significantly when breaking the data down by panel source. The widest gap in usage is between Panel T and Panel J. ChatGPT shows the largest spread, reaching 55% in Panel T compared to just 26% in Panel J, a 29-point difference. Gemini follows a similar pattern, with a 16-point gap between Panel T (46%) and Panel J (30%).
This is a good reminder that how you build your sample really matters. Strategic blending helps avoid the bias that can sneak in when you don’t understand the attitudes and behaviors of the panels you use.
