The Gender Gap in AI

Note: This analysis is an excerpt from a broader June 2026 study about Americans and artificial intelligence.

About this research

This study is Pew Research Center’s latest effort to explore how Americans use and view artificial intelligence (AI). The study also dives into who uses chatbots and has smart home devices with AI features. It also explores what impact people think AI will have on society and on them, personally.

Why did we do this?

The Center conducts research to inform the public, journalists and decision-makers. Tracking the rise of AI in society has been a key priority for us over the years. It’s important to understand how people use AI in their lives and how they feel these tools will impact themselves and society.

Learn more about Pew Research Center.

How did we do this?

Does gender factor into how people use and think about artificial intelligence (AI)? In some ways, it does.

Men report using chatbots more regularly than women and are more likely to turn to them for a variety of things, including work. Women, on the other hand, are more skeptical about AI, including how it will impact their own lives.

This work is part of a Pew Research Center survey on Americans’ views of and experiences with AI, conducted Feb. 17-23, 2026. Read the main story to learn more.

Here’s more on what we found:

• Chatbot use is on the rise for both men and women – but women saw a steeper increase since 2024. (Prior to 2026, the question was “Have you ever used an artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot like ChatGPT, Gemini, or Copilot?” and was asked of those who had heard at least a little about chatbots.)
• The gender gap in overall chatbot use has closed. A similar share of men and women now report using AI chatbots. This is a shift from two years ago, when men were 11 percentage points more likely than women to say this.
• But a higher share of men use these tools regularly. Men are more likely than women to say they use chatbots on a daily basis (27% vs. 20%).

Along with tracking use of chatbots overall, we also looked at which platforms men and women turn to.

Men stand out for their use of some specific brands. For example, men are more likely than women to say they ever use Copilot (22% vs. 13%).

Larger shares of men than women also report using Gemini, Grok and Claude.

ChatGPT – the most widely used chatbot in our survey – is used by identical shares of men and women.

Reasons for using chatbots

On a broad level, men and women tend to use chatbots for similar reasons, with search and work tasks (for those who are employed) topping the list for both groups. But there are some modest differences in what they go to chatbots for.

In several categories, men are somewhat more likely than women to say they use chatbots. These include searching for information, work tasks, fun or entertainment or getting news.

Women are slightly more likely than men to say they use chatbots for emotional support or advice. There are no gender differences in reporting using chatbots for companionship.

Helpfulness of chatbots

In addition to understanding how men and women are using chatbots, we also wanted to understand if they felt differently about whether they’ve found these tools helpful or not.

Men are more likely to say chatbots are helpful for their productivity. While 35% of men say these tools help their productivity, the share drops to 25% among women. 

There are modest or no gender differences in how people view chatbots’ impact on their knowledge, creativity, happiness or personal relationships.

AI-enabled smart devices and AI summaries

Chatbots tell one part of the AI adoption story, but there’s also a range of things people incorporate in their lives and homes that use AI.

• Women are more likely than men to say they have a smartwatch (40% vs. 34%).
• Larger shares of men report reading AI summaries that appear at the top of search engine results, compared to women (63% vs. 57%).
• But there is little or no gender difference in having other devices that use AI, like smart speakers or robot vacuums. (Respondents were first asked if they have thermostats, doorbells and vacuums, and then were asked if any of these devices have AI features. Go to the topline for full question wording.)

Views about AI

Across our surveys, there’s a consistent pattern where women tend to view AI more negatively than men. These gender differences also show up in other surveys of teenagers and AI experts.

In our new survey, women are about twice as likely to say AI will have a negative impact on them personally over the next 20 years than a positive one (33% vs. 17%).

Men, by comparison, are more evenly split. Roughly an equal share of men predict positive outcomes as negative ones.

When it comes to its societal impact, 43% of women expect AI will affect society negatively. Far fewer think it will be positive for society.

While men’s views about societal impact also tilt negative, the gap is not as large.

The speed of AI development

We also asked the public if AI was advancing too quickly, too slowly, or at the right pace and found some gender differences there as well.

Majorities of Americans believe AI is moving too fast, but women are more likely than men to say this (68% vs. 58%).

Relatively few Americans believe AI is moving too slowly, but men are about 10 percentage points more likely than women to think it’s advancing at the right pace.

AI literacy and confidence

As AI rapidly evolves, there have been more conversations about and efforts to increase the public’s understanding of the technology.

Just as with certain uses and views, men and women also differ in their familiarity and confidence in using AI.

Nearly all men and women today have some familiarity with AI. But men are more likely to say they’ve heard a lot about the technology.

Just over half of men say they’ve heard a lot about AI overall, compared with 41% of women.

When it comes to chatbots, similar gender differences are present. Men are also more likely than women to say they have heard a lot about chatbots (48% vs. 38%).

Confidence in using chatbots

Confidence in chatbot use also varies by gender. Men are more likely than women to say they’re extremely or very confident using chatbots (22% vs. 15%).