{"slug": "what-do-americans-think-ai-is", "title": "What do Americans think AI is?", "summary": "A new Pew Research Center survey finds that 29% of Americans associate AI with chatbots, making it the most common technology linked to AI in their minds. Nearly four-in-ten U.S. adults say they engage with AI at least several times a day, and awareness of AI has grown to 96% of adults, with 48% saying they have heard a lot about it.", "body_md": "The existence of artificial intelligence (AI) has moved from a question of if to when, and now. But when people think of AI, they associate it with a range of things – from chatbots to smartwatches or even science fiction.\n\n“Americans and AI 2026: Chatbots, Smart Devices and Views on Impact”\n\n| Percent | |\n|---|---|\n| Chatbots | 29% |\n| Robots & sci-fi | 8% |\n| Images & videos | 7% |\n| Generative AI & LLMs | 6% |\n| Internet & tech generally | 4% |\n| Negative views of AI | 4% |\n| Search engines | 3% |\n\n“Americans and AI 2026: Chatbots, Smart Devices and Views on Impact”\n\nFor the first time, Pew Research Center asked Americans: What technology comes to mind when you first think of AI?\n\nWe found that **not only are more people using chatbots, this is the most common technology people first associate with AI. **About three-in-ten answer with chatbots generally or name specific brands when asked about the first technology that comes to mind when thinking of AI, according to a survey of 5,119 U.S. adults conducted Feb. 17-23, 2026.\n\n**About one-in-ten mention robots and science-fiction, **including films like “The Terminator” and “2001: A Space Odyssey.”\n\nRoughly similar shares name images and videos or generative AI and large language models (LLMs) first.\n\nMeanwhile, 3%-4% cite the internet or technology generally (e.g., computers or phones), a negative view of AI, or search engines as being top of mind.\n\n[Go to the topline](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/PI_2026.06.17_Americans-and-AI_TOPLINE.pdf) for the full list of categories. This is part of a larger study of Americans about their experiences and views of AI. [Jump to the main report](https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2026/06/17/americans-and-ai-2026-chatbots-smart-devices-and-views-on-impact/) for more.\n\n### How often do Americans think they interact with AI?\n\n“Americans and AI 2026: Chatbots, Smart Devices and Views on Impact”\n\n| Almost constantly/Several times a day | About once a day/Several times a week | Less often | |\n|---|---|---|---|\n| U.S. adults | 36% | 30% | 34% |\n\n“Americans and AI 2026: Chatbots, Smart Devices and Views on Impact”\n\nAs AI continues to expand into different tools, some say they are regularly interacting with this technology.\n\nToday,** nearly four-in-ten U.S. adults say they engage with AI at least several times a day.** This includes 7% who report doing so almost constantly.\n\nAnother three-in-ten say they do so about once a day or several times a week. And about a third report engaging with AI less often.\n\n### How aware are Americans of AI?\n\nNote: Figures may not add up to NET values due to rounding. Those who said “nothing at all” or did not answer are not shown.\n\n“Americans and AI 2026: Chatbots, Smart Devices and Views on Impact”\n\n| A lot | A little | NET | |\n|---|---|---|---|\n| 2022 | 26% | 59% | 85% |\n| 2023 | 33% | 56% | 90% |\n| 2024 | 40% | 53% | 94% |\n| 2025 | 47% | 48% | 95% |\n| 2026* | 48% | 48% | 96% |\n\nNote: Figures may not add up to NET values due to rounding. Those who said “nothing at all” or did not answer are not shown.\n\n“Americans and AI 2026: Chatbots, Smart Devices and Views on Impact”\n\nAs AI becomes part of daily life, [more people are calling for ways to increase AI literacy](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/23/business/ai-literacy-faq.html). Overall, awareness of AI is now nearly universal: 96% of adults say they know at least a little about AI.\n\nIn fact, **the share who say they’ve heard a lot about AI has grown substantially** over the past five years. Today, that group is about half of U.S. adults, up from 26% in 2022.\n\n*% of U.S. adults who say they have heard __ about AI chatbots like ChatGPT, Gemini or Copilot*\n\n“Americans and AI 2026: Chatbots, Smart Devices and Views on Impact”\n\n*% of U.S. adults who say they have heard __ about AI chatbots like ChatGPT, Gemini or Copilot*\n\n| A lot | A little | NET | |\n|---|---|---|---|\n| 2024 | 28% | 44% | 72% |\n| 2026 | 44% | 43% | 87% |\n\n“Americans and AI 2026: Chatbots, Smart Devices and Views on Impact”\n\n**Americans have also become far more aware of chatbots over the past couple years**. Roughly nine-in-ten U.S. adults report hearing at least a little about these tools, including 44% who have heard a lot.\n\nThis is far higher than in August 2024. Then, about seven-in-ten Americans had heard of chatbots, with 28% reporting hearing a lot.\n\n#### Confidence in using chatbots\n\n“Americans and AI 2026: Chatbots, Smart Devices and Views on Impact”\n\n| Percent | |\n|---|---|\n| Extremely/Very | 18% |\n| Somewhat | 22% |\n| Not too/Not at all | 8% |\n| Does not use AI chatbots | 51% |\n\n“Americans and AI 2026: Chatbots, Smart Devices and Views on Impact”\n\nWhen it comes to the public’s confidence in using chatbots, **about one-in-five adults are extremely or very confident in their ability to use a chatbot.** A slightly larger share report that they are somewhat confident.\n\nFewer Americans lack confidence in using chatbots. About one-in-ten say they are not too or not at all confident using these tools. About half of adults do not use chatbots at all.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/what-do-americans-think-ai-is", "canonical_source": "https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2026/06/17/what-do-americans-think-ai-is/", "published_at": "2026-06-17 13:46:24+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-06-22 02:19:10.236350+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["artificial-intelligence", "large-language-models", "ai-products", "ai-tools", "ai-research"], "entities": ["Pew Research Center", "ChatGPT", "Gemini", "Copilot"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/what-do-americans-think-ai-is", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/what-do-americans-think-ai-is.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/what-do-americans-think-ai-is.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/what-do-americans-think-ai-is.jsonld"}}