AI has become the first channel between brands and consumers that can both inform people and act for them, and Americans are letting it despite their doubts. Only 17.6% of Americans say AI agents are a good idea, yet 40.1% would let one handle at least one everyday task for them, according to The State of AI Adoption in America, a new report from Channel V Media, a PR and communications agency that builds market momentum for established enterprises and venture‑backed innovators.
Print, broadcast, search and social media each changed how the public discovers brands, but none of them could act on what they told people. Today, though, AI does both. Generative AI has become a go-to place for answers, and AI agents take the next step, acting on those answers, from booking a restaurant to buying groceries. Both types of AI draw on what has been published about a brand, including news coverage, which means earned media now shapes not just what people think about a company, but what AI does on their behalf.
Channel V Media helps companies shape how AI engines describe them, a practice known as AI visibility. The State of AI Adoption in America is the first edition of Channel V Media’s ongoing tracking of how Americans use this new channel, drawing on Prosper Insights & Analytics’ nationally representative survey of 7,675 U.S. adults, segmented by generation and workplace role. Findings from the report include:
AI is shaping what consumers know about brands
- Search is the top reason Americans use AI. More than half (53.0%) of generative AI users search with it, and 48.3% use it for research and summaries.
- Once older Americans adopt AI, they use it to search. Boomers are the least likely generation to use generative AI (32.2%), but 65.5% of those who do use it to search, the highest of any generation.
- The channel’s audience is still growing. Nearly a third (30.5%) of Americans have heard of generative AI but don’t understand what it is, and another 16.5% are excited to try it but haven’t yet.
Consumers are letting AI act on what it tells them, starting small
- Use is running well behind willingness. Just 7.7% of Americans use agentic AI today, a fifth of the share who say they’d let an agent handle an everyday task.
- Everyday errands come first. Booking a restaurant (12.1%), buying groceries (11.0%) and managing a smart home (10.0%) top the list. Willingness drops as stakes rise: only 5.6% would let AI teach their children, and 5.0% would let it buy a car.
Skepticism isn’t stopping them
- Americans question AI even as they use it. Four in 10 (40.3%) worry AI gives wrong information, and 29.3% don’t trust that AI has their best interests in mind.
- The gap is widest among Boomers. Just 4.7% of Boomers call AI agents a good idea, yet 18.6% would use one, nearly four times as many. Across all Americans, 40.6% aren’t sure either way.
Executives are adopting AI faster than their employees
- Executives lead their own workforce. Executives and business owners use generative AI more than employees (53.2% vs. 37.9%) and agentic AI at 2.7x the rate (17.5% vs. 6.6%).
- But they still want a human for their own money. Executives and business owners prefer a person for banking (76.8%) and healthcare (77.4%), nearly the same as employees (76.6% and 79.3%).
- Executives and employees worry about different things. Executives are more likely to worry that AI gives wrong information (40.2% vs. 33.6%), while employees are more likely to doubt that AI has their best interests in mind (25.0% vs. 22.1%).
Millennials, not Gen Z, are America’s AI power users
- Millennials lead on AI use. Nearly half (47.2%) of Millennials use generative AI, ahead of Gen Z (44.3%), Gen X (42.4%) and Boomers (32.2%). The lead widens on agentic AI (13.3% vs. 8.5% for Gen Z), and 29.6% of Millennials call AI agents a good idea, the highest of any generation.
- Gen Z is equally excited and anxious. More than one in five (22.2%) Gen Z adults are excited to try generative AI but haven’t yet, the highest share of any generation. Another 21.9% say AI makes them anxious, and 14.8% fear losing their job to it.
For now, consumers keep AI out of their highest-stakes decisions
- Americans prefer a person in every service category tested. They choose a live person over an AI program for healthcare (84.0%), banking (82.6%), travel (77.5%), telecom and entertainment (72.6%) and online shopping (69.1%). Even Millennials, the generation most open to AI, prefer a person for healthcare (76.3%) and banking (74.3%).
- Privacy concerns unite every group. Six in 10 (60.5%) Americans are very or extremely concerned about AI violating their privacy, the same share among executives and employees.
As consumers draw clear lines around what they’ll let AI touch, organizations are already responding. For example, six global banks published joint principles for AI agents in commerce, citing consumer concern that agents may not act in their interests.
“Consumers are letting AI act for them before they fully trust it, so brands can’t wait for that trust to arrive before they show up in AI’s answers,” said Gretel Going, President of Channel V Media. “The brands that earn a role in bigger decisions like banking and healthcare will be the ones AI engines can describe credibly, and that credibility comes from what trusted sources, like media, have published about them.”
The State of AI Adoption in America is based on Prosper Insights & Analytics’ June 2026 survey of 7,675 U.S. adults ages 18 and older.
