US AI Usage at Work: Three Years of Hype and…
February 2, 2026
Another dinobaby post. No AI unless it is an image. This dinobaby is not Grandma Moses, just Grandpa Arnold.
I read “Frequent Use of AI in the Workplace Continued to Rise in Q4.” I expected a “good news!” write up. For me the major take away was:
The proportion of employees using AI daily has risen from 10% to 12%.
How can 88 percent of the US employees not use AI. Launch Microsoft. AI is there. That counts, doesn’t it? Do a Google search. AI is there. That counts, doesn’t it? Send a message via Telegram. AI is there. That counts, doesn’t it? Apparently not.
Thanks, Venice.ai. Good enough.
Now consider the number 88 percent from Microsoft’s vantage point. The company was the leader in the early laps of the AI marathon. The company has issued strong statements about its role as the provider of an AI operating system. One must have above average computing skills in Windows to exorcise the demon AI. Microsoft has argued that Microslop is an incorrect way to present the company’s smart software.
Am I missing something?
The write up says:
the percentage of total users, those who use AI at work at least a few times a year, was flat in Q4 after sharp increases earlier in the trend. Nearly half of U.S. workers (49%) report that they “never” use AI in their role.
Okay, another number. It seems to suggest that about half of the employees in US companies don’t rub shoulders with AI at work. From my point of view, about half never using AI at work sounds better than about 90 percent who do not use AI daily.
Who uses AI? The write up reveals:
AI use in the workplace is most prevalent in knowledge-based industries and least common in production and service-based sectors. Employees in technology, finance and higher education report the highest levels of AI use, especially compared with U.S. employees in retail, manufacturing and healthcare.
Okay, high technology, finance, and education have the highest use of AI. I think the education usage indicates that the talk about original research and writing is hot air. I can understand tech and money bros wanting to make use of the technology. But it seems to me that a baffled appliance repair person might be able to use AI to resolve a sticky issue with a dish washer.
The write up reveals:
Employees in leadership positions are more likely than managers and individual contributors to use AI at work.
The dwellers of Carpetland are robust users of smart software. That makes sense. Leaders have to be smart. AI makes these folks feel or perceive themselves as smarter. Are they? What are the motives for the high usage of AI? Is it imposter syndrome and the need to overcompensate in some way?
With AI everywhere, the data in this Gallup survey suggest that some people embrace AI. But quite a few are hostile or just indifferent. Putting this in the context of the AI scaling and data center frenzies, is AI the next big thing for … a few?
Stephen E Arnold, February 2, 2026
Comments
Got something to say?
-
- Subscribe to Beyond Search
Feature archive
News archive
-
