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Some careers' views of AI

Software developers

The 2025 Stack Overflow Developer Survey found 78% of respondents use AI tools in their development process, up from 62% in 2024 and 44% in 2023 (the first year it was asked). A majority are still favorable, but favorability and trust both fell:

The most common frustration, cited by 66%, was output that is "almost right, but not quite."

31% use AI agents.

Physicians

The American Medical Association's 2026 survey found 72% of physicians use at least one AI tool in their practice (with 9% unsure), up from 48% in 2024 and 38% in 2023. 76% say AI gives them an advantage in caring for patients, up from 69% in 2024 and 65% in 2023. The most common uses were summarization (e.g., research) (39%) and drafting (e.g., care plans) (30%).

The survey asked physicians how AI would help or harm various dimensions of their work. Most physicians thought AI was helpful for most dimensions, especially work efficiency (78% to 7%) and diagnostic ability (74% to 11%). The only surveyed dimension where more respondents expected AI to harm than to help was patient privacy (13% to 41%).

Physicians were split but mildly favorable on patients using AI themselves for medical tasks. A majority at least sometimes wanted patients to use AI for questions about medications and their side effects (68%, vs. 17% never or rarely); general health questions (64%, vs 15%); and personalized health questions (55%, vs 24%). Almost half didn't want patients using it for interpreting radiology reports (46% never or rarely, vs 31% sometimes or definitely) or pathology results (49% never or rarely, vs 31% sometimes or definitely).

70% are very or somewhat concerned about AI eroding the skills of medical students and residents. 28% are similarly concerned about their own skills. Respondents ranked clear liability frameworks as their top regulatory priority.

Teachers

A 2025 Gallup survey of 2,232 US public K–12 teachers found 60% used AI (32% at least weekly, 28% less often), and 40% not at all. The most common uses were preparing to teach (37% of teachers at least monthly) and making worksheets or activities (33%). Weekly users reported saving 5.9 hours a week on average.

Teachers who used AI for a task were asked how it affected the quality of their work on that task. For every task, a majority said it made their work somewhat or much higher quality, from 57% for grading/feedback to 74% for administrative work.

In a 2025 survey of 806 middle and high school teachers by the Center for Democracy and Technology (a tech policy nonprofit), 85% had used AI in the 2024–25 school year, counting school-provided tools. 70% worry AI keeps students from learning critical skills.

Game developers

The 2026 GDC State of the Game Industry survey of "over 2,300" game industry professionals found 36% use generative AI at work: 30% at game studios versus 58% at publishers, support companies, and marketing firms, and 47% of upper management versus 29% of lower-level staff. The most common uses were research or brainstorming (81%), followed by everyday tasks like email and code assistance (47% each).

52% thought generative AI was having a negative impact on the industry, up from 30% in 2025 and 18% in 2024, while 7% thought it was having a positive impact, down from 13% in 2025. Views were most negative among artists (64%), designers and narrative writers (63%), and programmers (59%); and most positive among executives and business staff (both 19%).

A mid-2025 Google Cloud survey run by the Harris Poll (615 game developers in the US, South Korea, Norway, Finland, and Sweden, mid-2025) found 90% integrate generative AI into their workflows. It's not really clear why this number is so much higher.

Lawyers

The ABA's 2024 Legal Technology Survey of 512 private attorneys found 30% use AI, with higher proportions at larger firms (46% at firms of 100+ attorneys, 18% of solo attorneys). (I couldn't find a 2025 survey, much less 2026; not sure why.)

A 2026 Legal Industry Report (cf LawSites coverage) from 8am, a legal software company (which sells AI, but also a lot of other stuff, so expect some sampling bias, but I thought some of the secondary questions were still interesting), surveyed "more than 1,300" legal professionals and found 69% personally use general-purpose generative AI tools for work, up from 31% and 27% in its previous two years' surveys. The most common uses were drafting correspondence and general research (58% each), brainstorming (54%), and summarization (47%). On AI's long-term impact on the legal profession, 54% are very or somewhat optimistic, 26% are neutral, and 20% are very or somewhat pessimistic.

Artists

A 2023 survey by Lovato et al. of 459 self-identified artists, recruited significantly through social media but with an extra phase to match the demographics of the US art workforce, found 62% agreed that AI models are a threat to art workers, while 45% agreed that AI models are a positive development for art. 22% agreed with both statements (!). 48% had used AI to generate art.

A 2026 survey by Jiang et al. of 378 professional visual artists, recruited mostly through the lead author's social media network, found 85% never use generative AI in their work, and 88% never use image generation. 99% dislike generative AI, 92% strongly.

An early-2026 survey from Adobe (which, obviously, sells AI tools) found "nearly 9 in 10 creatives say generative AI has made their work better". 46% said job opportunities had gone up, while 30% said they had declined.

Musicians

A 2023 survey of 15,073 members of the French and German music rights societies Sacem and GEMA found 35% had used AI in their music work, up to 51% among those under 35. 19% refuse to use AI, and another 26% would rather not. 64% think the risks of AI use outweigh the opportunities; 71% worry AI use threatened their income and future.

Writers

A 2025 survey by BookBub (a book promotion service) of 1,229 authors, mostly self-published, found 45% use generative AI for their work. Among those, the top use cases were research (81% at least "occasionally"), marketing copy or art (~74%), outlining/plotting (~72%), and editing/proofreading (~70%). 48% don't use it and don't plan to. Of those not using it, the most common reason was that it was unethical (84%).

General public

(Not really a career, but whatever)

Pew's February 2026 survey of 5,119 US adults found 49% use AI chatbots, up from 33% in 2024; 24% use them daily or more. The most common use was searching for information (42%). 38% of employed adults used it for tasks at work.

The survey asked respondents how AI would help or hurt some aspects of their lives. People were positive on their productivity (30% helps, 5% hurts), how informed they are (28% helps, 5% hurts), and their creativity (21% helps, 11% hurts); while more even and indifferent on their happiness (8% helps, 5% hurts) and their relationships (6% helps, 7% hurts).

In a June 2026 Pew survey, 52% said the increased use of AI in daily life makes them more concerned than excited, which has been roughly stable since 2023 but increased from 37% in 2021 and 38% in 2022. 9% are more excited than concerned, also stable since 2023 but down from 18% in 2021 and 15% in 2022.