In the fall of 2025, Research & Marketing Strategies, Inc. (RMS), a national market research company, surveyed its ViewPoint research panel to learn about consumers’ familiarity, opinions and use of artificial intelligence. RMS gathered responses from nearly 1,000 participants across the United States. The following post shares the results of this survey.

View infographic here.

Familiarity and Artificial Intelligence Use 

Participants were asked how familiar they are with AI: 

• 56.1% of respondents are somewhat familiar with AI. 

• 29.3% of respondents are very familiar with AI. 

• 13.4% of respondents have heard of it but don’t know much about it. 

• 1.2% of respondents are not familiar at all. 

When asked if respondents have personally used AI tools, the majority (60.5%) of respondents said yes: 

• 33.4% stated “yes, occasionally” they use AI tools. 

• 27.1% stated “yes, often” they use AI tools. 

• 20.2% stated “I’ve tried them once or twice.” 

• 19.3% states “no, never.” 

ChatGPT is the most used AI tool (38.1%) of our survey participants. Followed by Gemini (19.94%), Microsoft Copilot (17.2%), Meta AI (15.28%) with Claude and “other” coming in last with 4.5% and 4.8% respectively. Of those who selected other, respondents stated they have also used Alexa, Google AI, Grok, and Perplexity. Survey participants also mentioned using AI tools such as Grammarly, MagicSchool, and Midjourney. 

When asked if they considered home assistant devices or smart speakers AI, the vast majority of respondents (65.92%) stated “yes,” while 34.08% stated that they did not see these devices as AI. 

AI Benefits & Concerns 

In general, most people felt neutral or unsure if AI will have a positive, negative, or neutral impact on society, with 37% of people responding neutral/unsure, 31.6% of people responding positive, and 31.2% of people responding negative. 

When asked in which areas/industries AI will be the most beneficial, respondents felt that it would be the most beneficial to business and productivity (19.6%). Healthcare was the second most selected response coming in at 18.1%. The rest of the respondents said the following: 

• Science/ Research – 18.1% 

• Education – 13.9% 

• Customer Service – 12.7% 

• Entertainment/ media – 11.9% 

• None of the above – 4.5% 

• Other – 0.9% 

Of those who selected “other,” respondents expressed being unsure of areas in which AI would be beneficial. Mentions included agriculture, factory work, finance, personal life, law, mental health, and military and weapons. Mentions were made of using AI “right,” as well as of the dangers of AI falling into the wrong hands. 

When asked which areas of AI concern participants the most, many respondents felt that misinformation and deep fakes were the biggest concern with AI (20.8%). Job loss/ automation, and privacy and data security both came in at close seconds with 18.4% and 18.3% of respondents selecting these concerns respectively. Fourteen percent of respondents were concerned with overreliance on technology, while 14.8% sited ethical use as their main concern. Bias and fairness were also selected as a concern (11.6%). Respondents who selected ‘other’ stated that the largest area of concern was the environment, including energy consumption and global warming, followed by the ability for AI to work against humanity. Others cited a loss of critical thinking and personal interactions, while several said “none.” Cheating in school was a concern, as was “all of the above”. 

When it comes to trusting if AI will make fair and unbiased decisions, 43.98% of respondents stated that they “somewhat” trust AI to be fair and unbiased, while 34.4% stated “not very much.” Only 7.3% stated that they trust the fairness of AI a “great deal,” while 14.2% stated “not at all” in regard to trusting AI. 

RMS asked survey participants about responsibility for ensuring that AI is safe and ethical. Regarding whom should be most responsible for ensuring that AI is safe and ethical, the responses were spread out among the following entities: 

• Technology companies – 27.6% 

• Government regulators – 26.5% 

• Independent researchers – 23.0% 

• Users/The public – 20.8% 

• Other – 2% 

Of those respondents who selected “other,” several were unsure as to who should be responsible to ensure AI is safe, and many noted no entity, including the government or the tech industry, would be up to this task. The primary suggestion was everyone listed, but other mentions included AI itself, a group of citizens, an impartial agency, an international regulatory board, or, in contrast to the majority opinion, the tech industry. 

Participant Outlook of AI 

Respondents were asked what excites them most about AI, with the most common response noted as “nothing.” Positive themes included fast and independent access to information; advancements in research, technology, business, science, and especially, health care; saving time and making life easier; learning; having greater creativity and creation; the automation of tasks; asking questions; convenience, ease of use, and efficiency; fun and entertainment; endless possibilities; a job aid; help with writing; and having a “friend” to interact with. 

When asked open-ended questions about the rules and safeguards that should be in place for AI, many respondents expressed uncertainty; it was mentioned repeatedly that the technology is progressing too quickly. Others had general suggestions, such as regulations, privacy rules, safeguards, accountability, restrictions, limits, and security. More specific recommendations included output labeled as ‘AI-generated,’ an independent regulatory board, checks and balances for regulators, government regulation, allowing the public and free markets to decide, distinguishing real information from fake information, age and student restrictions, AI as an ethical “helper” only, and not replacing jobs with AI. It was also noted that AI should not be used or developed, and also that there should be a kill switch. 

Age plays a factor in respondents’ familiarity. Younger people tend to be more familiar with AI than older individuals. When analyzing the data by age, 70.3% of respondents ages 25 to 34 years old noted that they were very familiar with AI. As age rises, familiarity drops to 45.4% with 35- to 44-year-olds, while 51.1% of respondents in this age group stated they are somewhat familiar. Forty percent of 45–54-year-olds are very familiar with AI, while only 21.3% of 55–64-year-olds stated they were very familiar with AI. Most respondents (64%) in this age group stated they were somewhat familiar with AI. Familiarity with AI decreases with age, as only 12% of 65–74-year-olds stated they were familiar with AI. In fact, 59.7% of respondents in this age group said they were somewhat familiar with AI, while 26.1% stated they have heard of it but don’t know much about it. Finally, only 4.1% of respondents age 75 or older stated they were familiar with AI, while 58.3% said they were somewhat familiar with AI and 35.4% stated they have heard of it but don’t know much about it. 

No matter the age, most respondents believe that home assistant devices or smart speakers are considered AI. The percentage breakdown is as follows: 

• 71.7% of respondents ages 25 – 34  

• 67.4% of respondents ages 35 – 44 

• 67.8% of respondents ages 45 – 54 

• 66.8% of respondents ages 55 – 64 

• 63.6% of respondents ages 65 – 74 

• 54.3% of respondents ages 75 or older. (Note that 45.6% of these respondents also believed that these products were not AI).  

As ages of respondents increased, the number of those who reported that they use AI very often decreased, with 56.6% of respondents aged 25 to 34 years old stating that they use AI often, while 26.4% of respondents in the same age group stated they used AI occasionally.  Forty-three percent of respondents ages 35 to 44 years old stated that they use AI often, while 37.7% stated that they use it occasionally. Forty-five to 54-year-olds split between using AI often (37.8%) and using it occasionally (35.7%). The difference in usage can be seen in ages 55 to 64, with only 19.7% stating that they use AI often and 34.3% stating they use it occasionally. Of this respondent group, 45% stated that they have tried AI once or twice, or they have never used it at all. Only 9.5% of 65 to 74-year-olds stated they used AI often, 31.1% state they use it occasionally, 26.9% stated they tried it once or twice, and 32.3% stated they never tried AI before. Finally, when it comes to respondents aged 75 and older, only 8.5% stated they use AI often. Twenty-five percent use it occasionally, while 19.1% stated they used it once or twice. This age group has the most significant difference in usage, with 46.8% stating they have never used AI before.  

When asked what AI tools have been used, the most common response among age groups was ChatGPT. Respondents 18-34 indicated that they have used both ChatGPT (38.1%) and Gemini the most (23.6%). While respondents aged 55-74 years old indicated that they use Chat GPT 38.7% and Microsoft Copilot (19.6%). 

When survey participants were asked if they trust that AI will make unbiased decisions, the responses were mixed: 

• 25 to 34 years: 40.3% somewhat trust AI to make unbiased decisions while 30.7% stated not very much. 

• 35 to 44 years: 49.4% somewhat trust AI to make unbiased decisions, while 29.4% stated not very much. 

• 45 to 54 years: 52.7% somewhat trust AI to make unbiased decisions, while 27.4% stated not very much 

• 55 to 64 years: 39% stating they somewhat trust AI to make unbiased decisions, while 36.2% stated not very much. In addition, 18.1% stated they didn’t trust AI at all to make unbiased decisions. 

• 65 to 74 years: 39.3% said they somewhat trust AI to be unbiased, while 41.5% stated not very much. In addition, 14.7% stated they did not trust AI at all.  

• 75 or older: 34.7% stated they somewhat trust AI to make unbiased decisions, while 47.8% stated not very much. In addition, 13% stated they did not trust AI at all.  

When asked if AI will have a positive, negative or neutral impact on society, 18- to 24-year-olds believe it will have a positive effect (58.8%). 25- to 34-year-olds also believe it will have a positive impact (52.8%). 35- to 44-year-olds are more mixed on the idea, with only 34.5% stating that it will have a positive impact, while 32.7% are neutral/unsure and 32.7% believe it will have a negative impact. 45- to 54-year-olds believe the impact will be positive (38.4%) and 32.6% are neutral or unsure of the impact it will have. Also 28.9% of respondents in this age group believe it will have a negative impact. 55- to 74-year-olds tend to be more neutral on this question, with 83% of respondents in this age group stating they are neutral or unsure about the impact. Finally, 43.4% of those who are 75 or older believe AI will have a neutral impact on society.  

When asked which area AI would be the most beneficial, the top two responses among all age groups were business/productivity and healthcare. When asked what the biggest concern of AI was, all the age groups agreed that the top concern was misinformation and deep fakes. Older respondents, ages 45-74, were also mostly concerned about privacy and data security (18.8%).  

Interested in more survey results from our research panel participants across the country? Check out these related blogs:

Money Talks: RMS Research Panel Shares U.S. Economy Confidence With Survey Results

RMS Research Panel Shares Job Search Strategies In Latest Survey Results

How To Be An Influencer: The Power of Joining a Research Panel like RMS ViewPoint

---

About the Author – Julie Daniel

Julie is a Research Analyst in the RMS Analytics Department division, responsible for programming surveys, coordinating recruitment, and cleaning, analyzing, and reporting survey data. Julie also supports many other divisions at RMS, including helping with phone recruitment in our call center or research needs within our healthcare division.

 

---

Interested in conducting a market research project with RMS?

Contact us for more information at [email protected] or call 1-866-567-5422.

---

About RMS

Research & Marketing Strategies, Inc. (RMS) is a full-service market research firm in Central New York. Formed in 2002, RMS helps organizations that are looking to know more about their customers and/or potential customers. We conduct surveys, focus groups, mystery shopping, studies, and analyses. Each project is customized and gets personal attention so that actionable, data-driven findings are delivered. RMS has a reputation for getting results. We offer an independent, professional means to conduct telephone, on-line, and mail surveying, as well as in-depth interviews, intercept interviews, and participant recruitment. We also host discussion groups through QualiSight, our onsite call center and focus group facility. We have a proven reputation for successfully recruiting and moderating focus groups, community forums, and town meetings.