63% Adoption Rate Shows GenAI Enthusiasm Among Younger Consumers

Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) is gaining traction among U.S. consumers across all age groups, according to a new PYMNTS Intelligence report, even as enthusiasm cools for voice assistants.

The study, titled “GenAI and Voice Assistants: Adoption and Trust Across Generations,” reveals changing consumer preferences concerning GenAI indicating a shift toward newer technologies while trust in older voice assistant technology declines. This trend, ironically observed among the initial proponents of voice assistants, prompts questions about the enduring appeal of technologies in a rapidly innovating landscape.

The PYMNTS special report, which surveyed 2,721 U.S. consumers between June 5 and June 21, 2024, examined consumer habits and opinions regarding both voice assistants and GenAI. The findings highlight a decrease in consumer confidence concerning the future capabilities of voice assistants, with the percentage believing they will become as smart and reliable as humans falling from 73% in March 2023 to 60% in June 2024. This erosion of trust is particularly pronounced among millennials and bridge millennials.

Concurrently, GenAI has experienced significant adoption, with 34% of U.S. consumers having used it in the 90 days preceding the survey. The report suggests that the perceived lack of advancement and dependability in voice assistants is contributing to this change, particularly as consumers hold high expectations for technological progress.

Key data points from the report include:

Shifting Confidence in AI Technologies: Confidence in voice assistants becoming as smart and reliable as humans decreased from 73% in March 2023 to 60% in June 2024. Trust in voice assistants to handle critical situations has also declined, with only 43% of U.S. consumers trusting them to call for help after an auto accident, down from 50% the previous year.

Generational Adoption Patterns: 63% of Gen Z consumers reported using GenAI in the past 90 days, demonstrating the highest adoption rate. Familiarity with GenAI among baby boomers and seniors jumped from 23% to 41%.

Use Cases and Potential for Reintegration: 47% of consumers who used GenAI did so for quick information retrieval, indicating a key utility. Millennials and bridge millennials (both at 32%) were the most frequent users of voice-activated devices.

The PYMNTS report underscores the enduring perceived value of GenAI for tasks like information retrieval, maintaining a stable 63% utility rating among U.S. consumers.

The study highlights distinct generational patterns in technology adoption, with zillennials, as digital natives, showing a greater propensity to integrate new tools like GenAI into their daily lives.

However, the observed decline in trust surrounding voice assistants serves as a lesson about the necessity of consistent performance and reliability for the sustained adoption of any novel technology.

The report’s methodology involved a census-balanced survey of 2,721 U.S. consumers, with an oversampling of the zillennial generation to enable more in-depth analysis.