20% of workers say they use AI for tasks that used to be given colleagues, poll finds

EXCLUSIVEArtificial intelligenceArtificial intelligence20% of workers say they use AI for tasks that used to be given colleagues, poll findsA new poll conducted by Epoch AI and Ipsos among roughly 1,100 employed U.S. adults found that almost 50% used AI at work.Listen to this article with a free profile00:0000:00A new poll has found that 1 in 5 people delegate tasks to AI that used to be given to co-workers or contractors.Chelsea Stahl / NBC News; Getty ImagesShareAdd NBC News to GoogleAug. 6, 2026, 12:59 PM EDTBy Jared PerloA new poll has found that almost half of employed U.S. adults use AI for work, with over 20% of those using the tool for work every day the poll was conducted.The survey, by nonprofit AI research center Epoch AI in conjunction with polling firm Ipsos, also found that 1 in 5 employed adults are utilizing AI for tasks they or their team previously would have given to a contractor or co-worker. The poll builds on previous findings from Epoch AI that artificial intelligence has become a key part of work and workflows for many employed Americans, helping workers accomplish everything from designing new software and preparing contracts to pricing goods and advising on business issues. Amreeta Das, who helped lead the Epoch AI research, said the poll’s insight on the breadth of workers’ AI use was notable. “Our previous poll from March found that about more than half of our respondents were using AI for work,” Das said, “but we didn’t exactly know how they were using it or what kinds of tasks they were using it for.”“People are figuring out how to divide work between themselves and the AI,” Das continued. “So far, this does not necessarily mean that there is automation of whole jobs, but there are tasks within these jobs through which AI is entering the workforce.”Thursday’s poll found that just over 23% of respondents said in the past week they used AI to help read documents to inform their work, while 22% of the surveyed individuals said they used AI...