The data: Almost all US adults (95%) have heard of AI, and 88% are at least somewhat concerned about it, per a Pew Research Center survey. Still, most (73%) believe that it’s important to understand AI.

• 53% of the general population worries that AI will make people’s ability to think creatively worse. That number jumps to 61% for adults under 30.
• Half believe it will have a negative effect on people’s ability to form relationships with others.
• However, 29% think AI will make people better problem-solvers.

Generative AI (genAI) has become part of everyday life, but how people use it—and how AI companies evolve—will determine its role in society.

The place for AI: US adults prefer AI for data-heavy work and safety tasks like solving criminal activity over personal use.

• 74% think AI should play a role in weather forecasting, per Pew Research.
• 70% say it would be useful in spotting financial crimes and government fraud.
• Less than half (46%) embrace AI’s role in mental health support.
• Just 18% think AI should judge whether two people might fall in love.

This aligns with how many marketers are deploying AI—for predicting customer behavior (29%) and analyzing large data sets (27%), per Ascend2.

AI in everyday life: Most US adults (73%) are willing to let AI help them in daily tasks at least a little, per the survey. Three-quarters (77%) of adults ages 19 to 29 would agree to AI assistance. That number drops to 63% for those 65 and older—smaller but still significant.

This data demonstrates that brands marketing AI tools for shopping and task assistance have a wide path to gain users. However, more than two-thirds of US adults (69%) aren’t interested in AI shopping tools, per CivicScience—image-based searches are gaining more interest.

Use cases: Numerous brands have deployed their AI assistants ahead of the 2025 holiday shopping season.

• Ralph Lauren, Albertsons, and Amazon released AI tools for shoppable outfit ideas, product discovery, and review summaries.
• Starbucks’ Green Dot Assist, while employee-facing, helps decrease wait times for customers.
• Mastercard’s agentic payments allow users to describe items that the agent will then purchase for them.

Our take: Although US consumers are concerned about AI, they’re willing to use it in some scenarios. AI that simplifies their lives without taking away their creativity will fare the best. Personalization, product recommendations, and search assistants will help consumers speed up their shopping journeys.