Welcome to our SurveyMonkey AI Sentiment study, a quarterly report designed to measure ongoing changes in AI usage and consumer sentiment. This study began in Q4 2024, and updates will be released during the first month of each quarter. Below, you will find the latest results, historical results, and details on our research methodology.
Q4 2025 (October - December)
One in three (33%) Americans now use AI on a daily or weekly basis, a significant increase from 24% one year ago (Q4 2024).
Two in three (65%) have ever tried, significantly higher than 54% last year.
AI sentiment has also shifted among the public: one in three (33%) say they are concerned about AI, up significantly from 27% a year ago.
Americans’ perceptions of AI’s impact on their lives has also polarized, with 42% believing the technology will have both a positive and negative impact, up significantly from 38% the previous quarter (Q3 2025), and from 35% the previous year.
Non-consensual sharing or storage of personal data are consumers’ top concern when it comes to AI assistants
Four in ten (38%) Americans say an AI assistant storing or sharing personal data without consent would make them lose trust the quickest in the assistant’s company.
- One in four (23%) cite a lack of ability to transfer to a human agent.
- 14% cite a lack of transparency about being an AI assistant
- 11% cite providing generic or scripted answers
Americans mostly reject AI’s presence in the recruitment process
Americans overwhelmingly (87%) favor human involvement in the overall job application process. Half (48%) would trust a human with some AI processes, while 39% only trust a human (without any AI influence). Only 9% place most of their trust in AI. More than one in three (35%) Americans say they are uncomfortable with any amount of use of AI by companies for recruiting. However, not all aspects are rejected:
- 31% are comfortable with companies using AI to identify potential candidates
- 26% are comfortable with AI used to analyze and screen resumes
- 26% are comfortable with AI reaching out to potential candidates
- 24% are comfortable with AI screening out applicants in the initial stages of the process
- 22% are comfortable with AI conducting skill-based challenges
- 13% are comfortable with AI analyzing interview performance
- Only 6% are comfortable with AI conducting interviews
- Only 5% are comfortable with AI making the final decision to hire or reject an applicant.
While 61% of Americans would use AI to help get a job, only 25% trust AI usage from recruiters to evaluate them fairly
Americans are three times as likely to trust a human recruiter over AI
Only one in four (25%) Americans are confident in AI’s ability to evaluate job applicants fairly; one in three (32%) have no confidence at all, and 28% only have a sliver of confidence. Conversely, they are three times more likely to trust a human recruiter for a fair assessment (74%).
The majority (61%) of Americans would use AI when applying for jobs, with 35% completely opting out of using AI for any part of the job application process
Using AI to optimize a resume is the top AI use case when applying for a job, with 37% open to doing so.
- 31% would use AI to research the company and role
- 30% would use AI to prepare for an interview
- 30% would use AI to generate a cover letter
- 26% would use AI to identify any skill gaps
- 17% would use AI to help with salary and offer negotiations
Methodology: This quarter’s SurveyMonkey study was conducted December 16-18, 2025 among a sample of 2,901 adults in the US. Respondents for this survey were selected from a non-probability online panel. The modeled error estimate is +/- 2 percentage points. Data have been weighted for age, race, sex, education, and geography using the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey to reflect the overall demographic composition of the United States.
| Period | Sample size | Fielding dates | Margin of Error (MOE) |
| Q4 ‘25 | n=2,901 U.S. adults | 12/16-18/25 | +/- 2.0pp |
| Q3 ‘25 | n=10,558 U.S. adults | 07/11/25 - 09/23/25 | +/- 1.0pp |
| Q2 ‘25 | n=6,997 U.S. adults | 04/11/25 - 06/23/25 | +/- 1.5pp |
| Q1 ‘25 | n=41,373 U.S. adults | 01/22/25 - 03/31/25 | +/- 1.0pp |
| Q4 ‘24 | n=25,030 U.S. adults | 10/25/24 - 12/31/24 | +/- 1.0pp |
