Quinnipiac poll finds more Americans use AI but few trust it

In short: Americans are using AI tools more often, but most still do not trust the information those tools produce.

What's going on

A Quinnipiac University poll released March 30, 2026, found that AI use is now common in the US. The poll says 51% of Americans use AI for research. Many also use it for writing, work tasks, and data analysis (looking for patterns in numbers, like sorting receipts into categories).

At the same time, trust is low. Only 21% said they trust AI-generated information “most” or “almost all” of the time. The poll breaks it down this way: 27% trust it hardly ever, 49% trust it only some of the time, 18% trust it most of the time, and 3% trust it almost all of the time.

People also want clearer labeling when AI is used. About 76% said businesses are not doing enough to be transparent about their AI use. That number is unchanged from a similar Quinnipiac poll in April 2025.

Concerns go beyond accuracy. Many respondents worry that AI is moving faster than rules can keep up. Gen Z respondents, people born from 1997 to 2008, reported high concern, including fears about job disruption.

Views vary by situation. While 59% said AI is a net positive for medical advances, majorities opposed AI use in health insurance claims decisions (71%), banking loans (67%), and job performance reviews (64%). A narrow majority, 53%, supported police use of facial recognition.

What to watch

This gap between heavy use and low trust is likely to shape new rules and company policies. Watch for more obvious labels that tell you when AI helped create information, like nutrition labels on food, and for debates about where AI should and should not be used in high-stakes decisions.

Source: TechCrunch AI