Stagwell’s National Research Group is out with a new study that finds that while Americans are adopting artificial intelligence (AI) quickly, many still use it for only basis tasks like search. 

And many are not sure what AI is. According to the survey, 58% of those polled believe AI is “looking up the answer in a huge database.” Just 13% correctly said AI is guessing which word comes next based on learned patterns. 

Among people who use AI at least occasionally, 63% say they use it for quick answers to questions and 48% to learn about a new topic. 

“AI has three speeds,” the report states, “the speed at which the technology advances, the speed of basic adoption, and the speed of sophisticated use.”  

AI advances and basic adoption are growing exponentially but the growth of sophisticated use lags, per the report, which asserts that “the average AI user seems stuck using and understanding AI at a basic level.” 

Barriers to more sophisticated use include not knowing what AI can do beyond basic search (50%) and not knowing how to ask the right questions and prompts.  

The report also surmises that new users face greater privacy worries, lower confidence in AI, fear of judgment, and ethical concerns.

Possible solutions include better user experiences (i.e., more intuitive and approachable) and messaging from AI companies that better explains how those new to the technology can optimize their usage.  

See more from the report here.