College Graduates Are Twice as Likely to Use AI Regularly at Work, Study Finds

Workers using AI say it helps them move faster and solve problems more creatively. But regular use is much more common among college graduates and managers. The American Job Quality Study finds a workplace divide: the people using AI most often are also far more likely to report that it improves their work.

The study was produced by Gallup, Jobs for the Future and The Families & Workers Fund, with data collected from January through March. Fox Business detailed its findings on October 6, alongside an interview with Molly Blankenship, Jobs for the Future’s associate vice president of strategy and impact.

Among workers who had used AI on the job, 63% said it helped them work faster, and 56% said it helped them find more creative solutions. Smaller shares reported more time for interesting work, at 47%, or higher-quality work, at 46%. Speed was the most commonly reported benefit.

Who is using AI regularly?

Regular use is still a minority experience. Semafor’s coverage of the same study puts weekly-or-more workplace AI use at 28% of U.S. employees. Another 54% said they had not used AI at work, placing the positive accounts from users alongside a large group with no workplace experience of the technology.

The education gap was especially large: 40% of college graduates used AI daily or weekly, compared with 17% of workers without degrees. Job roles showed a similar, smaller divide. Managers were more likely to be regular users, at 37%, compared with 25% of individual workers.

Income also separated workers’ reported experiences. Among employees earning at least $10,000 a month, seven in 10 said AI accelerated their work, according to Semafor. Fewer lower-earning workers said the same. That comparison concerns reported speed benefits, a different measure from how often workers use AI.

Frequent users report more than speed

• Creative solutions: 67% of regular users said AI helped, compared with 39% of irregular users.
• Higher-quality work: 59% of regular users reported a benefit, compared with 26% of irregular users.
• More interesting tasks: 61% of regular users said AI helped them focus on these, compared with 27% of irregular users.

These are workers’ assessments of their experience. A higher rate of reported benefit is not, by itself, proof that more frequent use caused the improvement. Blankenship said the research shows strong correlations between AI use and already being in a quality job, rather than benefits reaching all workers evenly.