Utah is the state most likely to use artificial intelligence, with 202.9 searches per 100,000 people for AI and AI-related tools, followed by Oregon and Washington, according to a study by AI-driven website builder YACSS.
The company examined Google Keywords data of search terms frequently used by people interested in AI over the past 12 months, which researchers then combined with each state’s average monthly search volume for AI-related terms per 100,000 people, as well as that state’s most common uses.
The survey found AI was used most for art among all 50 states, with AI voice generation being the second most popular application of the technology. Creation of music, and text-to-video and animation were also popular.
“It’s surprising that the interest for AI-related topics is very uneven across the states,” says Jesper Nissen. “We see very clearly in the data, that the states on both costs, have much higher interest in AI than states in the center of the country.”
For example, California has 1,135 monthly searches for AI-related terms per 100,000 people, compared to South Dakota, which has 440 monthly searches per 100,000 people.
California is home to Silicon Valley, and is a natural technology driver, while other states with a high degree of technologically advanced industries will continue to research and invest in AI technologies.
“It’s a self-reinforcing system,” Nissen says. “The more advantage you have in AI now, the more you will invest in it in the future.”
He explains there are several reasons why some states are more interested in AI than others.
“It’s a mixture of what industries are dominating in the individual states, the general attitude towards new technology, the educational focus and the potential for industrial growth,” he notes.
He says in simpler terms, the job one has, plays a deciding factor in whether one has an actual use case for AI.
“It’s an interesting question we need to do more research on,” he adds.
Rafael Solis, COO of Braidio, says the difference in AI usage among states could come down to their proximity–or lack thereof–to larger industry hubs like New York City and Los Angeles.
“The top use cases mentioned are for art, voice generation for entertainment, and music and animation, all of which require budgets that users in smaller media markets may not always have access to,” he says. “While artificial intelligence can dramatically impact a large-scale organization, it just as well can unlock essential capabilities for smaller enterprises.”
He adds another reason could be the expansion of general consumer interest and trends in image generation that have made the rounds on social media outside of the business world.
Nissen points out the types of repetitive tasks an AI can do hundreds of times faster than humans. Right now, it’s in two main areas: Content generation and AI image generation.
“For example, the writing of blog posts, product descriptions for webshops, copy for Facebook ads and translation tasks,” Nissen says.
He explains the human defines the task, the AI performs the main part of the work, and the human users can then perform the editing part afterwards.
“That’s the general recipe for success with AI tools,” he adds. “ChatGPT excels at these kinds of tasks, and this is the reason it’s so popular. It’s a huge timesaver for businesses.”
From his perspective, ChatGPT is the main driver of the AI revolution, and the impact of it is significant.
“The simple, easy to understand user interface is the main cause of its success,” he says. “The way that it allows you to have a conversation with the AI, and generate human-like output, has made it accessible to everyone.”
He points out both creatives and businesses now use it for automating tasks, and in general to promote and advance their business operations at a faster pace than was previously possible.
“We only see this speeding up, when more advanced applications of ChatGPT and other AI tools emerge,” Nissen says.
Solis says awareness is likely at an all-time high, but with that level of attention comes a similar level of scrutiny.
“Businesses have already launched tremendous efforts of digitalization in the wake of the pandemic, which included artificial intelligence,” he says. “That said, for creatives and businesses alike, the current ubiquity of the technology probably has more exploring its potential than not.”
He explains there are likely to be regional differences in adoption rates of emerging technologies, even marginal ones.
“In the short term, it’s safe to say this trend will continue, though not forever,” he notes. “Early adopters can include industries that depend on localizing in the same general areas, which could explain certain results in the study.”
