Artificial intelligence is becoming an integral part of our everyday lives in 2025. It can boost productivity, save overall man-hours, and teach ordinary people how to do things that fall way outside their job description. From coding to image creation, if prompted properly, AI can do it.
Even some blue-collar workers, who spend most of their workday using their hands, are seeing the benefits of AI integration through automated scheduling and digital assistants that help with paperwork and payroll. Needless to say, almost everyone is using AI in some way, but some areas of the country are utilizing it more than others.
D.C. Uses AI Most, But Rhode Island Is Most Efficient
A new study[1] by Phrasly.ai has revealed that some states are utilizing AI more extensively than others. The study found that our nation’s capital, Washington D.C., is the number one user of AI per capita, spending the most time interfacing with artificial intelligence. Interestingly, the study also found that our nation’s capital is not utilizing AI as efficiently as some other states, despite being the leading user of AI.
To the contrary, South Dakota is lagging behind in their AI usage. The study found that South Dakota residents use AI the least per capita, with users only spending slightly over 10 minutes on average per session. Whereas Delaware, the state that spends the most time using AI, spends an average of 17 minutes per session.
But as seen in D.C., usage doesn’t always translate to efficiency. For example, Rhode Island residents who used AI were found to use it most efficiently, saving an average of 32 hours and 5 minutes per user per month. That’s almost an entire work week saved by AI users in Rhode Island.
Unfortunately, Washington D.C. AI users were found to only save 7 hours and 29 minutes per month on average, just slightly less than an average 8-hour workday. While one workday doesn’t seem like much in comparison to Rhode Island’s workweek savings, it’s still significantly more than the states that are lagging behind.
States like South Dakota, Wyoming, and Kansas were found to be the least efficient, with AI users saving between 49 minutes and 3 hours per month per user. Perhaps these are states that could benefit from AI teaching programs, especially for those using AI in business.
Speaking of efficiency and the integration of AI into business, a separate study[2] by the Infosys Knowledge Institute found that one in two business initiatives using AI were successful. The study also noted that AI success is closely tied to a business’s ability to effectively adapt its operations and data infrastructure. To put it another way, AI’s impact comes not from layering AI onto existing processes, but from rethinking how those processes work in the first place.
Monday Night Is The New AI Rush Hour
When it comes to AI usage, there are some hours of the day and days of the week that are more popular than others, according to Phrasly’s study. Overall, the U.S. sees the most AI usage on Monday at 8 p.m., which the study speculated is because “people are squeezing in productivity after the traditional 9-to-5 — students finishing those essays due tomorrow, professionals tackling leftover tasks, or maybe just those looking for last minute dinner inspiration.” We might also attribute this to the fact that AI users are seeking to engage in creative work during quieter times of the day, or perhaps they are using AI as a late-night companion.
Despite AI’s limited emotional intelligence, people are increasingly turning to AI for advice and mental health support, according to a study[3] by JMIR Mental Health. The appeal? Well, AI is available 24/7, it’s non-judgmental, and confidential. One might argue that it’s also relatively inexpensive compared to rising healthcare costs in the U.S.
On the state level, Oregon, Vermont, and Delaware are using AI earlier in the day than the rest of the country. All three states are mostly interacting with AI between 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. local time, suggesting that these states use AI for work most commonly based on their peak usage time. Late-night states like Idaho and Pennsylvania are seeing their peak usage at 9 p.m.
Interestingly, no state in the study was found to use AI primarily during the weekend. Other studies have explored this reasoning and have suggested that AI is most beneficial to the average user on work and school days. Other studies have also noted that AI usage significantly drops during the summer months, suggesting that students may be among the biggest users of AI.
This raises the question: Will states that currently lack AI usage continue to struggle well into the future? If the internet boom of the late 1990s and early 2000s taught us anything, it’s clear that states lagging behind in AI usage now will likely continue to lag behind.
Content Generation, Humanization, and Detection
The study also analyzed the three different application types for AI usage: generation, humanization, and detection. Content generation and humanization were most popular among AI users in Virginia, while AI detection was most popular in Wyoming.
This might lead one to believe that the small percentage of Wyoming residents using AI are afraid of being caught. Still, state government officials are encouraging residents to put their fears aside by educating them. In fact, the University of Wyoming has launched an AI Initiative[4] to develop an AI-capable workforce and apply the technology to key state industries, including energy and agriculture. Wyoming residents might be hesitant to use AI, but state officials are not.
Midwestern States Are Lagging Behind
Overall, the study paints a clear picture. AI is no longer an exclusive experiment that’s only accessible to tech professionals. It has become a mainstream tool that is reshaping how Americans work, study, and communicate; yet, AI adoption is anything but uniform. Washington, D.C. leads in overall usage, Rhode Island leads in efficiency, Delaware leads in session length, and much of the Midwest continues to trail behind.
While some people have doubts about AI and others think it’s the next best thing after sliced bread, we can all agree that the adoption gap of AI is real, and it may shape the future of work in the U.S. for many years to come.
Read next: Rising AI Pressure Pushes Professionals Back Toward Human Networks[5]
References
- ^ new study (phrasly.ai)
- ^ separate study (www.infosys.com)
- ^ according to a study (pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
- ^ AI Initiative (www.uwyo.edu)
- ^ Rising AI Pressure Pushes Professionals Back Toward Human Networks (www.digitalinformationworld.com)