AI adoption in the workplace stalled in the fourth quarter of 2025, but those who have already started using it are making increased use of it, according to a survey by pollster Gallup. Don't let that fool you into thinking AI is taking over work, though: frequent AI users are still a tiny minority of overall workers.

Sharp increases in the workplace usage of AI throughout the year almost entirely leveled off between Q3 and Q4 2025, Gallup [1]reported over the weekend. The total percentage of workers using AI climbed just a single percentage point in the final three months of the year, from 45 percent in Q3 to 46 percent. Similarly, respondents noting that their company had adopted AI hovered at 38 percent in Q4 – just a single percentage point higher than Q3 adoption [2]numbers .

That said, while AI adoption and usage were flat over the final quarter of 2025, the number of workers reporting frequent and daily usage of AI did increase.

[3]

There was a three percent increase in frequent AI usage, defined as being a few times a week, and a two percent increase in daily AI usage. While greater than the overall one percent increase, those changes are still small, and it's also worth noting they comprise a vast minority of AI users overall. Per the responses, only 26 percent of workers are using AI frequently, and just 12 percent are using it daily.

[4]

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So who's jumping aboard? The results there aren't surprising either.

Per Gallup, knowledge-based industries are dominating in AI usage, with the tech sector particularly fond of it – 77 percent of tech professionals report using AI in the workplace, with 57 percent doing so frequently and 31 percent using AI daily. University workers and finance professionals are also high adopters.

[6]

Interestingly enough, workers in "remote-capable" roles, which Gallup defines as jobs that "could reasonably be completed remotely regardless of where the employee actually works," are big fans of AI, with 66 percent of them reporting using it in Q4. Far fewer employees in non-remote capable positions report using AI – just 32 percent – though that could be the nature of their jobs, as Gallup notes remote positions tend to be desk and office-based, while on-site jobs often involve more physical work.

Leadership positions, which Gallup defines separately from managers and individual contributors and which tend to be desk- and office-based roles, are also more likely to use AI than other workers, the pollster said, while noting the gap between leadership and rest-of-the-workplace AI usage has widened in recent years.

[7]One in six US workers pretends to use AI to please the bosses

[8]One long sentence is all it takes to make LLMs misbehave

[9]McKinsey wonders how to sell AI apps with no measurable benefits

[10]AI pilots keep crashing, mostly because firms skip the prep, survey finds

Taken as a whole, Gallup argues that the growing divide between users and non-users, and stagnating expansion, means that AI has a use-case problem.

"Gallup research shows that lack of utility is the most common barrier to individual AI use, suggesting that clear AI use cases may be more apparent for leaders than employees in other roles," the polling agency concluded of its Q4 numbers.

"This underscores the importance of grounding decisions about AI adoption in a clear understanding of how AI may be applied to different roles and functions, not just among those closest to decision-making," Gallup added.

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In other words, the C-suite ought to start thinking outside its own experience on AI adoption, because the average employee [12]doesn't seem to find it particularly useful . That, or they're realizing AI [13]isn't saving them any time , and may even be [14]eating up more of it . ®

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[1] https://www.gallup.com/workplace/701195/frequent-workplace-continued-rise.aspx

[2] https://www.gallup.com/workplace/699689/ai-use-at-work-rises.aspx

[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/aiml&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aXfyIQAQanmuuJtwtrKQLwAAAZc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0

[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/aiml&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aXfyIQAQanmuuJtwtrKQLwAAAZc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0

[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/aiml&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aXfyIQAQanmuuJtwtrKQLwAAAZc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0

[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/aiml&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aXfyIQAQanmuuJtwtrKQLwAAAZc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0

[7] https://www.theregister.com/2025/07/22/ai_anxiety_us_workers/

[8] https://www.theregister.com/2025/08/26/breaking_llms_for_fun/

[9] https://www.theregister.com/2025/10/09/mckinsey_ai_monetization/

[10] https://www.theregister.com/2025/11/13/survey_ai_projects_failure_no_prepare/

[11] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/aiml&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aXfyIQAQanmuuJtwtrKQLwAAAZc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0

[12] https://www.theregister.com/2025/11/19/ai_force_feeding/

[13] https://www.theregister.com/2025/12/24/reason_ai_isnt_delivering/

[14] https://www.theregister.com/2025/10/21/ai_eats_leisure_time/

[15] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/