Forty-three percent of New York state residents say the disadvantages of artificial intelligence are too great, while 37% say the advantages outweigh the disadvantages, according to a Siena Poll released April 14. 2026.
Nearly 1 in 5 respondents, 19%, said they do not know whether the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.
Two-thirds of New Yorkers, 67%, said they use AI chatbots, while 32% said they have never used an AI chatbot. Forty-four percent said they use AI at least weekly, including 21% who said they use it daily.
Compared with last year, 48% said they are using AI tools more, 39% said their use is about the same and 8% said their use has decreased.
Among those who use AI chatbots, 41% said they use them mostly for personal reasons, 24% mostly for professional reasons and 32% equally for both. More than half of users, 56%, said they double-check AI results always or most of the time. Twenty percent said they pay for an AI chatbot subscription.
Among New Yorkers who use AI chatbots at least weekly, 28% said they pay for a premium subscription, compared with 5% of those who use chatbots infrequently. Across users, ChatGPT was the tool used most often, followed by Gemini and Copilot.
Nearly 9 in 10 residents, 92%, said they have seen content in the last 30 days that appeared to be generated by AI. Thirty-five percent said they trust results from a traditional search engine more than information provided by an AI chatbot, while 8% said they trust AI results more. Twenty-eight percent said they trust both equally and 23% said they trust neither.
“Four years after ChatGPT was released to the public, AI is creeping into everyday life, whether you use a dedicated chatbot app or website, or use AI features embedded in other spaces. Almost every New Yorker, regardless of background, encounters AI-generated content,” Associate Director of Data Management Travis Brodbeck said. “Like various forms of emerging technology, we see gaps in behaviors and attitudes between the youngest and oldest New Yorkers. These age-related differences risk creating a new element to the ‘digital divide’ where the ability to discern AI content and use AI tools is a new skill required in the digital age.”
The Siena University Poll was conducted March 3-14, 2026, among 810 New York state residents. It has an overall margin of error of plus or minus 3.6 percentage points. Survey cross-tabs are available at sri.siena.edu.
Provided by Siena Research Institute (SRI); edited for style and length.