AI is the first channel that informs consumers about brands and then acts for them. A Prosper Insights & Analytics survey of 7,675 U.S. adults finds 53.0% of AI users search with it and 40.1% of Americans would let it act for them, though only 17.6% think that’s a good idea.
Published September 23, 2026. Updated October 5, 2026.
New channels between brands and the public come along once every few decades. Print, broadcast, search and social media each changed how people discover companies and decide what to buy. None of them could act on what they told people. AI can.
AI is the first channel that both informs consumers about brands and acts for them, and Americans are letting it despite their doubts. Among Americans who use generative AI, 53.0% use it to search the internet and 48.3% use it for research and summaries. Four in 10 Americans (40.1%) would let an AI agent handle at least one everyday task for them. Only 17.6% think AI agents are a good idea, and just 7.7% use agentic AI today. Willingness is running ahead of both endorsement and use.
For brands, that changes the stakes. What an AI engine says about a company no longer just shapes what consumers think. It increasingly shapes what they do. AI engines build those answers from what has been published about a brand, including news coverage.
Why Channel V Media produced this report
Channel V Media is a public relations and communications agency that helps companies shape how AI engines describe them, a practice known as AI visibility. Understanding how audiences use a channel is the first step in reaching them through it. The AI Barometer is Channel V Media’s ongoing measure of how Americans use this new channel. This first edition draws on Prosper Insights & Analytics‘ June 2026 survey of 7,675 U.S. adults, cut by generation and by workplace role.
From Channel V Media
“New channels between brands and the public emerge once every few decades, and AI is the first one that doesn’t stop at informing people. When the same engine that tells a consumer about a brand can also act for them, a brand’s reputation inside that engine becomes one of its most valuable assets. Earned media has always been about reaching an audience; now it also decides what AI says about you.”
Gretel Going, President, Channel V Media
Six findings
- AI is shaping what consumers know about brands. Searching the internet is the No. 1 use of generative AI (53.0% of users), followed by research (48.3%), well ahead of writing assistance (30.4%) or content creation (17.1%). Among Boomer users, 65.5% search with AI. At the same time, 30.5% of Americans have heard of generative AI but don’t understand it.
- Consumers are letting AI act for them, starting small. Four in 10 Americans (40.1%) would let an AI agent handle at least one of thirteen everyday tasks, led by booking a restaurant (12.1%), buying groceries (11.0%) and managing a smart home (10.0%). Only 7.7% use agentic AI today, and 17.6% think it is a good idea (41.8% say it isn’t; 40.6% are unsure).
- Skepticism isn’t stopping them. The top concerns are that AI needs human oversight (40.4%) and that it gives wrong information (40.3%), ahead of job losses (36.2%), and 29.3% don’t trust that AI has their best interests in mind. Six in ten Americans (60.5%) are very or extremely concerned about AI violating their privacy, identical among executives and employees and a majority in every generation.
- Executives are adopting the new channel first. 53.2% of executives and business owners use generative AI vs. 37.9% of employees, a 15.3-point gap that widens to 2.7x on agentic AI (17.5% vs. 6.6%). Even so, 76.8% of those same executives still want a live person for their banking and 77.4% for their healthcare.
- Millennials, not Gen Z, lead on the new channel. 47.2% of Millennials use generative AI (Gen Z 44.3%, Gen X 42.4%, Boomers 32.2%), 13.3% use agentic AI (Gen Z 8.5%), and 29.6% think it’s a good idea (Gen Z 22.6%). Gen Z is the generation most anxious about AI (21.9%) and most afraid of losing its own job to it (14.8%).
- For now, consumers keep AI out of their highest-stakes decisions. Americans prefer a live person over AI chat in every category tested: healthcare 84.0%, banking 82.6%, travel 77.5%, telecom 72.6%, and even online shopping 69.1%. Even among Millennials, the most AI-receptive generation, humans win 61.9% to 38.1% in shopping and 76.3% to 23.7% in healthcare.
Methodology
The AI Barometer is Channel V Media’s analysis of data from Prosper Insights & Analytics’ monthly consumer survey, conducted in June 2026 among 7,675 U.S. adults aged 18 and older. Prosper designed and fielded the survey and collected the data. Channel V Media selected the questions covered in this report, carried out the analysis and is responsible for the interpretation.
Results are shown for all U.S. adults and for six segments. By generation: Gen Z (N=1,543), Millennials (N=1,924), Gen X (N=2,039) and Boomers (N=1,853). By workplace role: Executives & Business Owners (N=1,960) and Employees (N=1,471). Prosper supplied the two breakdowns as separate cross-tabulations of the same survey wave rather than as respondent-level data, so findings cannot be combined across them (for example, Gen Z executives).
Questions about what respondents use generative AI for were asked only of those who said they already use it. Percentages for those items describe users within each segment, not all adults. Respondents were asked whether they had heard of agentic AI before being shown a definition (AI systems designed to act autonomously, making decisions and taking actions to achieve specific goals with minimal human intervention), and were then asked whether it is a good idea and which of thirteen tasks they would use it for. The 40.1% of Americans who would use an AI agent for at least one task is derived as 100% minus the 59.9% who chose none of the thirteen. Where the report gives a share of all adults who use AI for a purpose, such as the roughly 21% of Americans who search with AI, it is a segment’s generative AI usage rate multiplied by the share of its users naming that purpose.
Where the report cites a multiplier, such as 2.7x, it is one group’s percentage divided by another’s, and both figures are shown. Point gaps and multipliers are calculated from the percentages presented and rounded to one decimal place. “Very or extremely concerned” combines the two top responses on a four-point privacy scale. Totals for multiple-response questions may exceed 100%.
1. AI is shaping what consumers know about brands
Search is the top reason Americans use AI: 53.0% of users search with it, rising to 65.5% of Boomer users.
For all the attention paid to AI that writes, draws and codes, the way most Americans actually use generative AI is to find things out. Among people who already use it, 53.0% use it to search the internet (the top listed use), and 48.3% use it for research, generating summaries and pulling together information. Those two uses sit well above writing assistance (30.4%), personal-assistant tasks (22.9%), customer-support answers (23.3%) and content creation (17.1%).
The pattern intensifies with age, too. Among Boomer AI users, 65.5% use it for internet search, and 50.8% for research. Gen X follows at 54.0%, Millennials at 48.2%. Gen Z, at 41.6%, is the only generation for which search is not the top use. For AI users over 30, search is the top use.
As a share of all adults rather than of AI users, the picture is flatter: about 21.5% of Americans search with AI (Gen Z 18.4%, Millennials 22.8%, Gen X 22.9%, Boomers 21.1%). Boomers are the least likely generation to use generative AI at all (32.2%), but the ones who do are the most likely to use it to search.
| Use (generative AI users only) | All users | Gen Z | Millennials | Gen X | Boomers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Searching on the internet | 53.0% | 41.6% | 48.2% | 54.0% | 65.5% |
| Research (summaries, information) | 48.3% | 46.8% | 46.4% | 49.2% | 50.8% |
| Writing assistance | 30.4% | 37.8% | 35.9% | 31.6% | 20.3% |
| Customer support (answering FAQs) | 23.3% | 20.5% | 22.3% | 22.3% | 27.2% |
| Personal assistant (scheduling, reminders) | 22.9% | 29.2% | 31.4% | 18.5% | 14.4% |
| Education (test questions, explanations) | 22.1% | 35.1% | 25.6% | 19.1% | 12.5% |
| Content creation (articles, blogs, social) | 17.1% | 19.9% | 23.1% | 17.6% | 9.5% |
The channel’s audience is still growing
AI may dominate business and media conversation, but a very large share of the public is still working out the basics. 87.6% of Americans have at least heard of generative AI, but 30.5% say they’ve heard of it without understanding what it is. Add the 12.4% who haven’t heard of it at all, and roughly 43% of U.S. adults are either unfamiliar with generative AI or say they don’t understand it. Among Boomers, the confused-but-aware group (46.6%) is larger than the group that uses it (32.2%). Nearly half the country is forming its understanding of AI right now.
| Generative AI awareness | All U.S. adults | Gen Z | Millennials | Gen X | Boomers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No, haven’t heard of it | 12.4% | 9.7% | 14.2% | 15.0% | 10.4% |
| Yes, but I don’t understand what it is | 30.5% | 23.8% | 19.7% | 27.1% | 46.6% |
| Yes, and I’m excited to experience it | 16.5% | 22.2% | 18.9% | 15.5% | 10.8% |
| Yes, and I already use it | 40.6% | 44.3% | 47.2% | 42.4% | 32.2% |
| Unfamiliar or don’t understand (combined) | 42.9% | 33.5% | 33.9% | 42.1% | 57.0% |
Spotlight: Boomers and AI search
Boomers who use AI have made it their front door to the internet. Two-thirds of Boomer generative AI users (65.5%) use it to search the web, the highest of any generation, and half (50.8%) use it for research. Boomers also lead every generation in using AI to get customer-support answers (27.2%). At the same time, Boomers are the generation least likely to understand the technology they’re relying on: 46.6% have heard of generative AI but say they don’t understand it, more than the 32.2% who use it.
What this means for brands
Channel V Media sees AI search as the new first impression: when half of AI users look things up there, what an engine says about a brand is often the first thing a customer hears.
“The most common thing people do with AI is search. So the first thing many customers, candidates and reporters learn about a company now comes from ChatGPT, Gemini or Perplexity, and for the 43% who are unfamiliar with these tools or don’t understand them, that may be the only place they look.”
“Those engines build their answers from sources they consider credible: established publications, expert commentary, third-party coverage. That puts earned media at the center of how a company shows up in AI.”
Kieran Powell, Executive Vice President, Channel V Media
2. Consumers are letting AI act for them, starting small
Four in 10 Americans (40.1%) would let an AI agent handle at least one everyday task, led by booking a restaurant (12.1%).
Four in ten U.S. adults (40.6%) already use generative AI tools like ChatGPT, Gemini or Copilot. Ask the same population whether they use agentic AI (systems that make decisions and take actions on their own) and the figure falls to 7.7%. That is a 32.9-point drop between using AI and delegating to it.
The drop is not only about awareness, although awareness is low: 67.6% of Americans have never heard of agentic AI. When the survey explained the concept and asked whether it was a good idea, only 17.6% said yes. 41.8% said no, and 40.6% couldn’t decide. Asked which of thirteen everyday tasks they would hand to an AI agent, 59.9% chose none of them.
Everyday errands come first
The smaller the stakes, the more willing Americans are to let an AI agent act. The leading use case is finding and booking a restaurant (12.1%), followed by buying groceries (11.0%), managing a smart home (10.0%) and paying bills (9.8%). Appetite falls steadily as the consequences rise: investing in stocks, bonds or crypto (8.1%), healthcare matters (6.9%), teaching their children (5.6%) and, at the bottom, buying a car (5.0%). Americans will let AI make a dinner reservation long before they will let it make a major life decision.
That hierarchy suggests AI autonomy will not arrive everywhere at once. It will move from low-risk convenience toward higher-consequence decisions, and each step will depend on trust earned at the step before.
Spotlight: Boomers
Boomers aren’t anti-AI. Nearly a third (32.2%) already use generative AI, and among those who do, it has become their primary way to search the internet. But Boomers draw the line at autonomy more sharply than any other group. 81.5% have never heard of agentic AI. Just 1.6% use it, versus 13.3% of Millennials. Only 4.7% think it’s a good idea, and once it was explained to them, 54.7% said it wasn’t. Offered thirteen tasks to delegate, 81.4% of Boomers chose none. The generation most willing to ask AI questions is the least willing to let AI act on the answers.
What this means for brands
Channel V Media expects consumers to hand AI bigger decisions one small task at a time, and the brands AI recommends for the small tasks will be first in line for the big ones.
“Most people are happy to use AI as a tool. Far fewer want it making decisions for them, and that gap is what any company launching an AI agent is up against.”
“The four in ten Americans who are unsure whether agentic AI is a good idea are the group that matters most for adoption. This is where marketing and PR can play a disproportionate role in shaping the future of an AI company. Early adopters will try new technology on their own. The rest need to be convinced, and that is a communications job.”
Kieran Powell, Executive Vice President, Channel V Media
3. Skepticism isn’t stopping them
Only 17.6% call AI agents a good idea and 40.3% worry AI gives wrong information, yet 40.1% would let it act for them.
Americans question AI even as they use it. 40.3% worry it gives wrong information, 40.4% say it needs human oversight and 29.3% don’t trust that it has their best interests in mind.
The public’s biggest objections to AI are practical fears: can I trust what it tells me, and is a human checking it? The two top concerns are almost tied. 40.4% say AI needs human oversight and 40.3% worry that it can provide incorrect information. Those outrank job losses (36.2%), the need for more transparency about the data AI uses (32.5%), distrust that AI has people’s best interests in mind (29.3%) and government regulation (27.8%). Only 16.4% of Americans have no concerns at all.
| Concern | Gen Z | Millennials | Gen X | Boomers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| It needs human oversight | 34.8% | 31.4% | 38.8% | 54.7% |
| It can provide wrong information | 37.4% | 32.2% | 39.2% | 51.9% |
| It will cause job losses | 33.9% | 28.2% | 35.9% | 47.0% |
| Needs more transparency on its data | 34.1% | 26.7% | 29.9% | 39.2% |
| Don’t trust AI has my best interests in mind | 25.2% | 18.7% | 28.2% | 44.1% |
| Needs government regulation | 26.2% | 20.6% | 23.5% | 38.7% |
| It is biased | 24.9% | 19.0% | 19.1% | 22.9% |
| No concerns | 13.1% | 20.2% | 20.3% | 12.6% |
Privacy: the one concern that unites everyone
On almost every question in this survey, executives and employees, young and old, diverge, sometimes by a factor of two or more. Privacy is the exception. About six in ten U.S. adults (60.5%) are very or extremely concerned about their privacy being violated through AI’s use of their data. Among executives and business owners the figure is 60.5%. Among employees it is 60.5%. It is a majority concern in every generation, from 56.6% of Gen X to 65.0% of Boomers.
Spotlight: Executives vs. Employees
Privacy is the one question where executives and employees give the same answer. Executives use generative AI at 1.4 times the employee rate and agentic AI at 2.7 times, and they are 1.8 times as likely to call autonomous AI a good idea. On privacy the two groups match: 60.5% of executives and 60.5% of employees are very or extremely concerned about AI violating their privacy, with nearly identical shares at the extreme end (31.9% vs. 31.4%) and at the unconcerned end (12.7% vs. 12.4%). The concern about what AI does with their data is one thing the two groups share almost exactly.
What this means for brands
Channel V Media’s read is that skepticism won’t slow adoption; it raises the value of being described accurately and credibly by the engines consumers already use.
“People aren’t worried about robots. They want to know whether the answer is right and whether a person checked it. Both are things a company can address directly.”
“Privacy is the one concern that shows up at the same level in every group. In a dataset where almost nothing else is shared across age or role, six in ten people worry about the same thing. Being clear about what you do with people’s data speaks to executives, employees and customers at once.”
Kieran Powell, Executive Vice President, Channel V Media
4. Executives are adopting the new channel first
Executives use agentic AI at 2.7x the rate of their employees (17.5% vs. 6.6%).
AI transformation is happening faster at the top of American companies. More than half of executives and business owners (53.2%) already use generative AI, compared with 37.9% of employees, a 15.3-point gap. When autonomy enters the picture, the gap widens: 17.5% of executives and business owners use agentic AI versus 6.6% of employees. Additionally, a third of executives (33.8%) think agentic AI is a good idea, against 18.9% of employees.
The gap between executive and employee AI use
Among people who use generative AI, 41.3% of executives and business owners use it for writing assistance, compared with 28.8% of employees. Executives also lead on content creation (24.4% vs. 17.4%), creative writing (26.9% vs. 19.9%), research (51.3% vs. 45.5%) and education and explanation (29.3% vs. 23.1%). The one place the two groups converge is the most basic use: searching the internet, at 48.9% for executives and 49.7% for employees. Leaders appear to be moving past AI as a search tool toward AI-assisted creation and knowledge work. Much of the workforce hasn’t followed.
| Use (generative AI users only) | Executives & Business Owners | Employees | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Research (summaries, information) | 51.3% | 45.5% | +5.8 pts |
| Searching on the internet | 48.9% | 49.7% | -0.8 pts |
| Writing assistance | 41.3% | 28.8% | +12.5 pts |
| Education (test questions, explanations) | 29.3% | 23.1% | +6.2 pts |
| Personal assistant (scheduling, reminders) | 29.2% | 26.2% | +3.0 pts |
| Creative writing | 26.9% | 19.9% | +7.0 pts |
| Content creation (articles, blogs, social) | 24.4% | 17.4% | +7.0 pts |
Executives and employees worry about different things
The two groups also differ in what worries them about AI. Executives are more concerned than employees that AI gives wrong information (40.2% vs. 33.6%) and that it is biased (23.4% vs. 19.8%), both concerns about the quality of what AI produces. Employees are slightly more likely than executives to worry that AI doesn’t have their best interests in mind (25.0% vs. 22.1%) and that it will cost them their job (11.4% vs. 9.2%), concerns about what AI will do to them. On the other big concern, that AI needs human oversight, the groups are close (39.3% vs. 36.8%).
| Concern | All U.S. adults | Executives & Business Owners | Employees |
|---|---|---|---|
| It can provide wrong information | 40.3% | 40.2% | 33.6% |
| It needs human oversight | 40.4% | 39.3% | 36.8% |
| It will cause job losses | 36.2% | 32.0% | 31.1% |
| Needs more transparency on its data | 32.5% | 32.0% | 30.9% |
| Don’t trust AI has my best interests in mind | 29.3% | 22.1% | 25.0% |
| Needs government regulation | 27.8% | 25.3% | 24.5% |
| It is biased | 21.1% | 23.4% | 19.8% |
| I will lose my job because of AI | 8.6% | 9.2% | 11.4% |
| No concerns | 16.4% | 15.6% | 15.1% |
Even the biggest adopters want a human when it matters
Executives, who are the furthest ahead on AI adoption, are no more willing than anyone else to let a bot handle high-stakes customer service. 76.8% of executives and business owners still prefer a live person for banking and financial services, and 77.4% for healthcare matters. Only 23.2% prefer AI chat for banking and 22.6% for healthcare, figures that are essentially identical to employees (23.4% and 20.7%). Executives are more open to AI chat for online shopping (39.7%), telecom (37.0%) and travel (31.2%), but on money and health, being an AI power user does nothing to diminish the desire for human expertise.
| Prefer AI chat over a live person | All U.S. adults | Executives & Business Owners | Employees |
|---|---|---|---|
| Online shopping / purchases | 30.9% | 39.7% | 33.0% |
| Telecom & entertainment | 27.4% | 37.0% | 30.5% |
| Travel (airlines, hotels) | 22.5% | 31.2% | 25.5% |
| Banking / financing | 17.4% | 23.2% | 23.4% |
| Health care matters | 16.0% | 22.6% | 20.7% |
Spotlight: Executives & Business Owners
Executives are the most AI-forward segment in the survey and the clearest proof that adoption doesn’t equal trust. They use generative AI at 1.4 times the employee rate and agentic AI at 2.7 times. Nearly half (48.6%) have heard of agentic AI, against 35.2% of employees. But when the question turns to their own bank account or their own doctor, more than three in four executives (76.8% and 77.4%) choose a human, the same proportion as the workforce they lead. The executive who deploys autonomous agents at work still wants a person on the phone when it’s personal.
What this means for brands
Channel V Media advises that the executives approving AI budgets are already heavy users, so B2B brands will be judged in AI answers before they are judged in a sales meeting.
“Executives use these tools more than their staff, so they tend to assume everyone else is as comfortable with them as they are. The data says they are not.”
“Executives are nearly three times as likely as their employees to use agentic AI, yet three in four of them still want to speak to a person when they need help with their bank. Executives need to remember this when they promote their products to the general public. The same hesitation applies to their customers, only more so, and the messaging has to assume it is there.”
Kieran Powell, Executive Vice President, Channel V Media
5. Millennials, not Gen Z, lead on the new channel
47.2% of Millennials use generative AI, ahead of every other generation.
The assumption that the youngest consumers always lead technology adoption doesn’t hold for AI. Millennials lead, with 47.2% already using generative AI, ahead of Gen Z at 44.3%, Gen X at 42.4%, and Boomers at 32.2%. On agentic AI the Millennial lead is wider still: 13.3% already use it, compared with 8.5% of Gen Z. And Millennials are the generation most likely to think agentic AI is a good idea, at 29.6%, versus 22.6% of Gen Z, 15.4% of Gen X and 4.7% of Boomers.
| Measure | Gen Z | Millennials | Gen X | Boomers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Already use generative AI | 44.3% | 47.2% | 42.4% | 32.2% |
| Excited to experience it but not yet using it | 22.2% | 18.9% | 15.5% | 10.8% |
| Already use agentic AI | 8.5% | 13.3% | 7.6% | 1.6% |
| Think agentic AI is a good idea | 22.6% | 29.6% | 15.4% | 4.7% |
| AI makes me anxious | 21.9% | 17.4% | 17.1% | 17.9% |
| Worried about losing my own job to AI | 14.8% | 8.3% | 9.7% | 4.2% |
Gen Z’s AI paradox: high adoption, high anxiety
Gen Z is enthusiastic and engaged with AI. 44.3% already use generative AI, and another 22.2% say they are excited to experience it, the highest “excited but not yet using” share of any generation. But Gen Z is also the generation most likely to say AI makes them anxious (21.9%, versus roughly 17% for every other generation), and by far the most likely to fear personally losing a job to it (14.8%). The generation growing up alongside the first generation of generative AI feels most personally exposed to it.
Two generations, two different job fears
Young and old Americans fear AI-related job losses in completely different ways. Nearly half of Boomers (47.0%) believe AI will cause job losses, compared with only 33.9% of Gen Z. But ask whether their own job could disappear and the result flips: 14.8% of Gen Z worry about losing their own job, against just 4.2% of Boomers. Boomers fear what AI will do to the workforce. Gen Z fears what AI will do to them.
Spotlight: Gen Z
Gen Z is the generation living with AI most closely and most uneasily. Two-thirds are either using generative AI (44.3%) or excited to (22.2%), but 21.9% say it makes them anxious and 14.8% fear it will take their job. Among generative AI users, Gen Z is the only generation whose top use isn’t searching the internet (41.6%, the lowest of any group). Instead they lead on education (35.1%), writing assistance (37.8%) and language learning (17.6%). Gen Z is an early adopter of AI that can see exactly what it might cost them.
What this means for brands
Channel V Media notes that Millennials are the generation most likely to let AI shape and act on brand decisions.
“Everyone assumes Gen Z is the AI generation. The data says it is Millennials. They use generative AI more than any other age group, and the gap is even wider on AI agents. Gen Z uses AI too, but it is also the generation most nervous about losing its own job to it.”
“Gen Z is the audience companies most want to reach with an AI story, and it is also the generation most worried about losing its job to AI. Any brand talking about AI to a young audience should factor this into their communications. Acknowledging that worry will get a better hearing than a message that is only about what the technology can do.”
Kieran Powell, Executive Vice President, Channel V Media
6. For now, consumers keep AI out of their highest-stakes decisions
84.0% prefer a person for healthcare and 82.6% for banking, even as they let AI handle everyday errands.
Despite the attention around AI customer service, Americans prefer a live person in every category the survey tested, and the preference is overwhelming where the stakes are personal. 84.0% want a human for healthcare matters. 82.6% want a human for banking and financial services. 77.5% for travel. 72.6% for telecom and entertainment services. Even for online shopping, the lowest-stakes category tested, 69.1% choose a person over an AI chat program.
On September 22, 2026, six global banks, including Bank of America, Capital One, ING and NatWest, published joint principles for AI agents in commerce, saying customers need to trust that they stay in control of how payments are made and that their money is safe.
A generational ceiling, even for Millennials
Younger Americans are considerably more receptive to AI chat than older ones, but the ceiling is lower than some might assume. For online shopping, 38.1% of Millennials prefer AI chat versus 19.1% of Boomers. For banking it’s 25.7% versus 6.9%; for healthcare, 23.7% versus 5.2%. Those are large generational gaps. Even among Millennials (the most AI-receptive generation in the survey) humans still win decisively: 61.9% choose a person for online shopping, 74.3% for banking and 76.3% for healthcare. Younger audiences are not giving companies permission to remove people from customer service.
| Prefer a live person | Gen Z | Millennials | Gen X | Boomers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Health care matters | 76.8% | 76.3% | 86.6% | 94.8% |
| Banking / financing services | 76.2% | 74.3% | 85.2% | 93.1% |
| Travel (airlines, hotels) | 72.5% | 70.7% | 78.0% | 87.7% |
| Telecom & entertainment | 66.3% | 66.3% | 73.2% | 83.5% |
| Online shopping / purchases | 62.4% | 61.9% | 69.7% | 80.9% |
Spotlight: Millennials
Millennials set the ceiling for AI customer service in America, and the ceiling is low. They are the generation most willing to talk to a bot, at 38.1% for online shopping, 25.7% for banking and 23.7% for healthcare, two to nearly five times the Boomer rates. Even so, in every category a majority of Millennials still choose a human: 61.9% for shopping, 66.3% for telecom, 70.7% for travel, 74.3% for banking and 76.3% for healthcare. If the most AI-friendly generation won’t accept a bot for its bank, no brand should assume anyone else will.
What this means for brands
Channel V Media sees the human preference in healthcare and banking as the next frontier: brands in trust-heavy categories earn a role for AI by explaining plainly where the human stays in the loop.
“The people most comfortable with AI, Millennials and executives, still want a human when money or health is involved. That is not going to change quickly.”
“‘AI-powered customer service’ is not a selling point on its own. Customers want to know they can reach a person when it matters, and where AI sits in the process. Companies that are upfront about both will be trusted more than the ones that automate everything.”
Kieran Powell, Executive Vice President, Channel V Media
Conclusion
The findings in this edition of The AI Barometer show a public that has made AI a channel between itself and the brands it buys from. Four in 10 Americans use generative AI, and more than half of executives do. The thing they use it for most is finding things out. And once AI has told them something, many are ready to let it act: 40.1% would hand an AI agent at least one everyday task.
They are doing it with their eyes open. Only 17.6% think AI agents are a good idea. Four in 10 worry AI gets information wrong, and six in 10 are very or extremely concerned about their privacy. They still want a person between them and their doctor or their bank. But skepticism has not stopped them from using the channel. It raises the stakes on which answers, and which brands, they act on.
For companies, that is both the risk and the opportunity. For roughly one in five Americans, those who already search with AI, the first impression of a brand, a product or a claim now comes from an AI engine, and those engines build their answers from the sources they judge credible. Companies that explain plainly what they do, where the human stays in the loop and what happens to people’s data, and that get that explanation carried by voices the public already trusts, will find an audience far more persuadable than the topline caution suggests. Companies that leave the explaining to the engines will be described by whatever the engines find.
What do AI engines say about your brand? Channel V Media audits how ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Claude describe your company, then builds the earned media that changes the answer.
Frequently asked questions
What percentage of Americans use AI to search?
According to Channel V Media’s The AI Barometer, 53.0% of Americans who use generative AI use it to search the internet.
Would Americans let AI act on their behalf?
Channel V Media’s The AI Barometer found 40.1% of Americans would let an AI agent handle at least one everyday task, though only 17.6% think AI agents are a good idea.
What tasks will Americans let AI agents do?
Booking a restaurant (12.1%), buying groceries (11.0%) and managing a smart home (10.0%) top the list in Channel V Media’s The AI Barometer; only 5.0% would let AI buy a car.
Do Americans trust AI?
Channel V Media’s The AI Barometer found 40.3% worry AI gives wrong information and 29.3% don’t trust that AI has their best interests in mind.
Which generation uses AI most?
Millennials lead, with 47.2% using generative AI, according to Channel V Media’s The AI Barometer.
Source: Prosper Insights & Analytics, June 2026 monthly consumer survey, N = 7,675 U.S. adults 18+. Analysis by Channel V Media. Percentages for AI usage questions are of generative AI users. Multipliers and point gaps are calculated from the percentages shown. For media inquiries, contact Channel V Media.