Embracing gen AI: a comparison of Italian and US households
Summary
Focus
Use of generative artificial intelligence (gen AI) has grown very fast since late 2022. Many people now use gen AI tools for work, learning and daily tasks. Yet adoption does not look the same across countries. We compare households in Italy and the United States using two large and comparable surveys from 2024. The surveys ask people how often they use gen AI, how they expect to use it in the future and how much they trust it. They also collect information on age, gender, education and work status. This allows us to study who uses gen AI and why. We focus on both occasional and regular use. We also examine views about well-being, wealth, data protection and trust in institutions when people interact with these tools.
Contribution
We contribute to the debate on digital adoption by providing the first direct comparison of household use of gen AI across countries. We show how much of the difference in adoption reflects population structure. The paper separates the role of age, gender, education and employment from other factors such as culture or attitudes. We also link current use to expectations and trust. This matters for policy because adoption shapes future productivity and inclusion. Our results help policymakers understand whether gaps reflect access and skills or deeper concerns about technology and data use.
Findings
Households in the United States use gen AI more than households in Italy. This gap is driven by sociodemographic differences between the two countries, in particular the larger share of young adults and college graduates in the US population. Despite their lower use of the technology, Italians are more confident in gen AI's potential to improve their well-being and financial outcomes. Both Italian and US users tend to place less trust in gen AI tools compared with human-operated services, but Italians report greater relative trust in government and institutional handling of data.
Abstract
This paper explores the household adoption of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) in the United States and Italy, leveraging survey data to compare usage patterns, demographic influences, and employment sectoral composition effects. Our findings reveal higher adoption rates in the US, driven by socio-demographic differences between the two countries. Despite their lower usage of GenAI, Italians are more confident in its potential to improve their well-being and financial situation. Both Italian and US users tend to trust GenAI tools less than human-operated services, but Italians report greater relative trust in government and institutions when handling personal data with GenAI tools.
JEL Classification: O33, D10, J24
Keywords: generative artificial intelligence, technology adoption, cross-country comparison, socio-demographic factors, trust in technology, cultural attitudes
