Stagwell’s National Research Group is out with a study finding that while Americans are adopting AI quickly, most still use it for basic tasks – and many aren’t sure what it is. 58% of those polled believe AI is “looking up the answer in a huge database.” Just 13% correctly said AI is guessing which word comes next based on learned patterns.
Usage trails understanding. Among people who use AI at least occasionally, 63% use it for quick answers and 48% to learn about a new topic. The report’s framing: “AI has three speeds — the speed at which the technology advances, the speed of basic adoption, and the speed of sophisticated use.” The first two are growing exponentially; the third lags, with “the average AI user seems stuck using and understanding AI at a basic level.”
The barriers are mundane rather than philosophical: 50% don’t know what AI can do beyond basic search, and many don’t know how to ask the right questions. Newer users carry heavier privacy worries, lower confidence, fear of judgment, and ethical concerns. The group’s proposed fixes are equally unglamorous – more intuitive user experiences, and messaging from AI companies that actually explains what the tools can do. For marketers building for AI-assisted consumers, the gap between those three speeds is the planning question: the technology is sprinting while the audience fragments yet again, creating a wide breadth of usage.
Read more at MediaPost.