Welcome to our SurveyMonkey AI Sentiment study, a quarterly report designed to measure ongoing changes in AI usage and consumer sentiment. This study began in Q4 2024, and updates will be released during the first month of each quarter. Below, you will find the latest results, historical results, and details on our research methodology.
Q1 2026 (January - March)
One in three (33%) Americans now use AI on a daily or weekly basis, a significant increase from 26% one year ago (Q1 2025).
Two in three (66%) have ever tried, significantly higher than 57% last year. AI sentiment has also shifted among the public: one in three (31%) say they are concerned about AI, up significantly from 28% a year ago.
As AI becomes more commonplace, Americans’ perceptions of AI’s impact on their lives have solidified. Four in ten (39%) say AI will have both a positive and negative impact on their lives (up from 37% last year), while 20% cite a mostly positive impact (similar to the 19% from last year), and 12% cite a mostly negative impact (up from 9% last year). The percentage who have not made up their minds about AI’s impact has steadily decreased from 34% last year to 29% now.
One-third of workers (34%) are using AI daily or weekly, mainly self-taught
One-third (34%) of full-time U.S. workers are now using AI at work daily or weekly, with 62% having tried AI at work at least once. Among those using AI daily/weekly at work, many rely upon it – 37% say that their productivity would be decreased if they were unable to use AI. Employees who use AI are primarily self-taught (75%), with 19% having official workplace training and just 9% learning from formal education.
Among those who use AI daily or weekly at work, just 35% have guidelines or rules around AI usage in place at their workplace; 48% say there are no rules, and 16% aren’t sure.
Real people’s real opinions are still valued over AI
Despite the growing reliance on AI, most Americans still trust input from real people when making an important decision. Two-thirds (66%) prefer input from real people, while only 4% prefer input from AI-generated opinions, and 17% say they trust both the same (13% trust neither). And when it comes to survey responses, 51% would be distrustful of synthetic survey responses and only 4% would completely trust them.
Methodology: This quarter’s SurveyMonkey study was conducted February 23 to March 31, 2026 among a sample of 8,482 adults in the US. Respondents for this survey were selected from a non-probability online panel. The modeled error estimate is +/- 2.5 percentage points. Data have been weighted for age, race, sex, education, and geography using the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey to reflect the overall demographic composition of the United States.
| Period | Sample size | Fielding dates | Margin of Error (MOE) |
| Q1 '26 | n=8,482 U.S. adults | 02/23/26 - 03/31/26 | +/- 2.5pp |
| Q4 ‘25 | n=2,901 U.S. adults | 12/16/25 - 12/18/25 | +/- 2.0pp |
| Q3 ‘25 | n=10,558 U.S. adults | 07/11/25 - 09/23/25 | +/- 1.0pp |
| Q2 ‘25 | n=6,997 U.S. adults | 04/11/25 - 06/23/25 | +/- 1.5pp |
| Q1 ‘25 | n=41,373 U.S. adults | 01/22/25 - 03/31/25 | +/- 1.0pp |
| Q4 ‘24 | n=25,030 U.S. adults | 10/25/24 - 12/31/24 | +/- 1.0pp |
