AI In Publishing: Gen AI Adoption Expected To Reach 100 Million U.S. Users In 2024 (New Forecast)

It’s not often that we see AI news that shows less-than-ridiculously-rapid rises in its numbers, but an EMARKETER study is showing a slow-down of sorts (albeit in growth numbers that were always destined to decrease at some point).

“Generative AI’s (genAI) user growth rate in 2024 is 28.6%,” writes EMARKETER’s Jason Bourne, “still strong, but more than 30 times slower than last year’s meteoric rise of nearly 900% from a relatively small base of users.”

The report forecasts gen AI adoption in the U.S. to hit 100 million users this year, a milestone that Facebook “took four years to reach,” EMARKETER says, adding that the rise of AI use in search would help increase those numbers further and faster.

(Source: EMARKETER)

“By 2026, 40.6% of US internet users will be genAI users,” the report says, putting the expected number of genAI users at that time as 127.2 million. “As genAI becomes more widely adopted, it’s primed to become a complementary tool for consumers and businesses, reshaping the entire digital landscape with its diverse applications and potential for enhancing productivity and creativity.”

For digital publishers in particular, AI tools already have the potential to help advertising teams, marketing departments, production designers, and editorial staff alike. The proliferation of AI’s use simply means more familiarity and comfort with its legitimate benefits.