The study, pulled together by AI productivity platform Plus Docs, analyzed Google searches over the last 12 months related to using AI for work tasks; 20 terms, including ones such as ‘AI email writer’ and ‘AI meeting notes,’ were used to identify which states use it the most. 

The AI market size is projected to hit a whopping $305.90bn this year. With the largest market size expected to be in the United States, AI is likely going to become prominent in Americans' lives. 

It seems those in Georgia are already taking advantage of it to help make their lives easier at work.

The state averaged the most monthly searches per 100,000 residents at 52.1, which is 37% higher than the national average of 38.1 searches per 100,000 people.

The most popular terms residents searched for were ‘AI writer,’ ‘AI writer free’ and ‘free AI writer.’ 

New York is the second state to make use of AI the most, with 52.0 searches per 100,000 residents – 36% higher than the US average.

Education and health services is the top industry (23%) in New York, which could explain why the state searches more than the average as roles that require teaching can benefit massively from AI to help with email writing and grammar checking. 

In third is California at 50.2 searches per 100,000 people, which is 32% higher than the national average search rate. 

It is surprising that Georgia and California rank in the top three as, according to a study, the leading industry in both is trades, transportation and utilities, making up 21% and 17% of the total employment in each respective state. 

Since the jobs in these fields don’t typically require AI such as presentation making as much as others, this perhaps reflects how heavily those industries that do use AI rely on the technology. 

Maryland and Virginia round out the top five states, with 49.6 searches per 100,000 residents and 49.4 monthly searches per 100,000 people respectively. 

The states using AI the most at work

At the other end of the scale, those in Iowa rarely employ the technology in their working lives, with the lowest average monthly searches of 27.2 per 100,000 residents – 29% below the national average. 

Workers in Wisconsin are the second least dependent upon AI, with only 27.9 searches per 100,000 people, which is 27% less than the US average. 

Mississippi is third at 28.1 searches per 100,000 residents – 26% below the national average. 

The trades, transportation and utilities industry is the main sector in Iowa (20%), Wisconsin (18%) and Mississippi (21%). 

A recent study also ranks these states low for industries where workers will typically take advantage of AI for tasks such as data analysis. This could explain why the searches in these areas are considerably lower than average, as the states are not employing many workers who need AI in their working lives. 

Rounding out the bottom five states are Alabama with 28.6 monthly searches per 100,000 people, and Arkansas with 29.4 average monthly searches per 100,000 people. 

The states using AI the least at work