How you may be using AI without realizing it

Nine in 10 Americans use AI on their phone — but only 38% actually realize that they do.

A survey of 2,000 adults explored how AI is used every day, finding that many were unaware of its presence in their everyday lives — like weather alerts (42%), call screening (35%), autocorrect (34%), voice assistants (26%) and auto brightness (25%).

For many, AI-powered camera features like night mode (19%) and photo memory slideshows (20%) are essential to capturing and enjoying their photos.

Conducted by Talker Research for Samsung, the survey found that half of respondents (51%) don’t think they use AI on their phone, yet 86% reported using common AI tools daily when prompted with a list of features.

When it comes to their phone in general, one in six use their phone for at least 10 different career-related tasks in a day, and more than twice that percentage get a similar number of personal tasks done daily on their device (38%).

More than half of Americans primarily use their phone for tasks related to their job more than any other device (55%) — especially Gen Z (74%).

As a result, 47% think their phone is essential for their career, with younger respondents in millennial (65%) and Gen Z (62%) age ranges being the most likely to agree.

Similarly, six in 10 use their phone for staying organized more than they use other devices.

While the average person only uses half of the apps on their phone regularly, 57% are confident that they’d be able to describe what every feature on their phone does, whether or not they use it.

Even with their phones always on deck, there’s much to learn. A third of respondents discover new features on their phone at least once a month (34%).

When it comes to AI usage, some of the more specific uses include practical assistance. One respondent said that they use AI to get help with ideas, while another said they use it for organizing tasks better. A third of respondents use AI for job applications.

Some respondents are using AI for more creative purposes, like teaching them how to cook, helping them write lyrics or asking random questions for entertaining conversations.

Of those who didn’t initially think they used AI regularly, but then learned that they do, a quarter said learning that it’s already a part of their everyday life made their opinion of AI more favorable.

Americans are mostly interested in using AI for helping them save time on tasks (28%), while others want it to help make tasks easier (27%), provide instant solutions (23%) and to improve their skills or learn new things (22%).

As tech continues to evolve, the average respondent thinks we have about three years left of traditional phone use before AI changes how we interact with our devices; one in five think we have less than a year.

When asked about features that they’d like to see from their phone in the next decade, some want even more advanced AI capabilities like “health monitoring, detecting vital signs and providing personalized wellness insights and alerts” or “anticipating my thoughts and auto-inserting them without me having to type.”

Others have even greater aspirations for their phone, with one wanting it to drive their car and another hoping it can charge itself without needing electricity.

NEW FEATURES PEOPLE WANT THEIR PHONE TO BE CAPABLE OF IN THE NEXT DECADE

• “Knowing its owner by sense of touch and emotion and alerts to things we deem necessary.”
• “Anticipating my thoughts and auto-inserting them without me having to type.”
• “Understand your long-term preferences and goals.”
• “I hope phones in the next 10 years will be able to fully project and interact with 3D holograms, allowing me to have virtual meetings, watch movies or even manipulate objects in 3D space without needing any extra devices.”
• “I hope my phone will be able to last an entire week on a single charge while staying just as fast and powerful.”
• “I'm hoping my phone will have advanced AI-powered health monitoring, detecting vital signs and providing personalized wellness insights and alerts.”
• “I hope my phone will be capable of real time language translation during phone calls within the next 10 years.”
• “I’m imagining something like: my phone can listen contextually to conversations (with privacy safeguards, of course) and instantly give me helpful suggestions.”
• “To charge without needing electricity.”
• “To take control of my finances and monthly bill paying.”
• “Use eye controls to control the movement of the screen.”
• “Calling for help in certain emergencies with a certain safe word.”
• “Drive my car.”

Research methodology:

Talker Research surveyed 2,000 Americans using a nationally representative scale, with at least 20% who use Samsung mobile phones who have access to the internet; the survey was commissioned by Samsung and administered and conducted online by Talker Research between Nov. 25 and Dec. 2. A link to the questionnaire can be found [here].

To view the complete methodology as part of AAPOR’s Transparency Initiative, please visit the Talker Research Process and Methodology page.