Artificial intelligence may dominate conference stages, LinkedIn sermons and every third startup pitch deck, but consumers are still treating it like artisanal hot sauce: interesting, occasionally useful and not yet essential.
According to a Bank of America Institute report, only about 3% of the bank’s households currently pay for AI services in 2026. Median monthly spend was $20 as of February, up 10.4% year over year. Translation: the AI revolution has arrived, but most people are still on the free trial.
For advertisers and media buyers, this is the kind of stat worth framing. We are living through peak AI hype while actual paid household penetration still rounds to “barely.”