Welcome to our SurveyMonkey AI Sentiment study, a quarterly report designed to measure ongoing changes in AI usage and consumer sentiment. This study began in Q4 2024, and updates will be released during the first month of each quarter. Below, you will find the latest results, historical results, and details on our research methodology.
Q3 2026 (July - September)
Notable changes this quarter:
- AI adoption continues to rise: 40% of U.S. adults use AI on a daily or weekly basis, up from 38% the previous quarter, and from 31% one year ago. This quarter’s growth is driven primarily by Gen X and Boomer users (+5pp and +3pp QoQ, respectively).
- AI becomes more integrated into Americans’ lives: AI used as a personal assistant is up 5pp YoY, from 29% to 34%, while AI for work is up 4pp, from 34% to 38%.
What hasn’t changed:
- Sentiment: Concern is the leading sentiment surrounding AI, followed by a split between feeling skeptical and impressed by the technology.
- Expectations for AI’s impact are mixed: 38% say it has both a positive and negative impact on their lives, while 20% say positive, 13% negative, and 25% are unsure.
- AI remains a limited draw for products: only 18% of Americans say that products that contain AI makes them want a product more, on par with 16% one year ago.
What our AI supplement reveals:
AI is poised to play a role in upcoming elections: 70% of Americans say AI policy is a very or somewhat important issue to their vote, and 88% express concern about AI-generated deepfakes or misinformation in political campaigns.
- AI is poised to play a role in upcoming elections: 70% of Americans say AI policy is a very or somewhat important issue to their vote, and 88% express concern about AI-generated deepfakes or misinformation in political campaigns.
- Most Americans (72%) say AI is developing too fast, and three in four (74%) support stricter regulations.
- More Americans oppose than support law enforcement use of AI-surveillance tools and AI data center construction.
1. AI adoption continues to rise
2. Americans' top feelings about AI: concerned, skeptical, and impressed
3. AI becomes more integrated into Americans’ lives
4. Sentiment toward AI is stable in Q3 after a spike in negative sentiment in late 2025
5. AI remains a limited draw for consumers
Nearly three in four Americans (72%) believe that AI is developing too fast, as AI leaders call to regulate advanced AI development
In light of Anthropic’s call to “pace the frontier”, two in three (68%) Americans also support slowing down or regulating the speed of advanced AI development to focus on safety and oversight. Only 12% of Americans oppose this, and one in five (20%) are either neutral or not sure.
Americans are also cautious about leading AI companies’ goals to responsibly develop AI: only 43% trust them compared to 57% who distrust them “not too much” (29%) or “not at all” (28%).
Americans are also split on AI’s overall impact on society over the last four years: 50% say AI has had both positive and negative effects, 24% say positive, and 26% say negative. Sentiment toward its development is also mixed:
- 45% describe AI’s development over the past 4 years as “unpredictable”
- 40% rapid
- 37% uncontrolled
- 37% dangerous
- 33% life-changing
- 31% innovative
- 29% overwhelming
- 23% promising
Recent discourse on AI’s role in society, including data center construction and AI’s role in public surveillance, such as Flock cameras see similar levels of division among US adults.
- More adults oppose than support law enforcement use of AI-surveillance tools (46% oppose vs. 34% support, and 20% neutral/neither).
- A similar split arises for AI infrastructure construction: 47% oppose vs. 27% support, and 26% neutral/neither).
- A consensus arises for supporting stricter regulation of AI development (74% support), compared to 10% who oppose, and 16% who are neutral.
AI is poised to play a role in upcoming elections: 70% of Americans say AI policy is a very or somewhat important issue to their vote, and 88% express concern about AI-generated deepfakes or misinformation in political campaigns.
Methodology: This quarter’s SurveyMonkey study was conducted July 1 to September 30, 2026 among a sample of 18,853 adults in the US. Respondents for this survey were selected from a non-probability online panel. The modeled error estimate is +/- 1.0 percentage point. Data have been weighted for age, race, sex, education, and geography using the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey to reflect the overall demographic composition of the United States.
| Period | Sample size | Fielding dates | Margin of Error (MOE) |
| Q3 '26 | n=18,853 U.S. adults | 07/01/26 - 09/30/26 | +/- 1.0pp |
| Q2 '26 | n=7,582 U.S. adults | 04/30/26 - 06/30/26 | +/- 2.5pp |
| Q1 '26 | n=8,482 U.S. adults | 02/23/26 - 03/31/26 | +/- 2.5pp |
| Q4 ‘25 | n=2,901 U.S. adults | 12/16/25 - 12/18/25 | +/- 2.0pp |
| Q3 ‘25 | n=10,558 U.S. adults | 07/11/25 - 09/23/25 | +/- 1.0pp |
| Q2 ‘25 | n=6,997 U.S. adults | 04/11/25 - 06/23/25 | +/- 1.5pp |
| Q1 ‘25 | n=41,373 U.S. adults | 01/22/25 - 03/31/25 | +/- 1.0pp |
| Q4 ‘24 | n=25,030 U.S. adults | 10/25/24 - 12/31/24 | +/- 1.0pp |
