AI and work: an expert assesses how far this revolution still has to run

Vivek Soundararajan, University of Bath

Image: Matheus Bertelli / Pexels

Every week brings fresh claims about AI transforming the workplace. A CEO declares a revolution. A think piece predicts millions of jobs vanishing overnight. The noise is relentless.

But strip away the hype and there is a simpler question. In developed economies, what has AI actually changed about work so far? The answer turns out to be more interesting, and more uneven, than either side suggests.

What’s real

Let’s start with what the evidence supports. AI is delivering genuine productivity gains in specific kinds of knowledge-based and service work. An experimental study found that professionals using ChatGPT for writing tasks took 40% less time to complete them, with an 18% improvement in quality (as evaluated by their colleagues in blind testing).

And another study of more than 5,000 customer service agents found a 15% increase in issues resolved per hour. An industry experiment involving realistic, complex tasks done with management consultants found they completed the work 25% faster and produced results that were deemed to be 40% higher in quality (again, judged by experts in blind tests). Randomised trials involving nearly 5,000 software developers documented a 26% increase in completed tasks.

These are not small numbers. And adoption is moving fast. A US survey found that nearly four in ten workers were using generative AI at work by mid-2025. This pace of adoption outstrips the early years of both the personal computer and the internet. Across countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), firms report that AI integration into business functions is accelerating.

So the productivity story is real, particularly in text-heavy, codifiable tasks across legal, finance, marketing and customer service. That much is not hype.

What’s overstated

But the apocalyptic predictions have not yet materialised. Employment across OECD countries remains historically robust. A review of the research-based evidence produced in the US in early 2026 found that despite rapid adoption, AI has so far caused little in the way of widespread job losses or pay cuts. And a study (as yet unpublished) that tracked AI chatbot use in Danish workplaces found essentially zero effects on earnings or recorded hours, even among heavy users and early adopters.

Why? Because many jobs still require tacit knowledge, physical presence, sound judgement and the kind of contextual awareness that AI cannot yet replicate. And adoption is far more uneven than the headline numbers suggest. While AI use among firms in the US soared between 2023 and 2025, a report found fewer firms had actually embedded it into their operations. The information sector, for example, adopted it at roughly ten times the rate of hospitality.

One economic modelling exercise estimates that AI might add somewhere between 1% and 1.6% to US GDP over the next decade. This is significant, but it is far short of the transformative claims.

The gap between productivity gains in controlled studies and real transformation inside organisations remains enormous. The revolution, for most workplaces, has not yet arrived.

What’s under-reported

Here is where the story gets more consequential and where the commentary falls short. The distributional effects of AI within developed economies deserve far more attention. Not everyone is experiencing this transformation the same way.

The evidence on who benefits is strikingly consistent. Less experienced workers see the biggest gains from AI tools. A study found that AI narrowed the gap between the most and least productive staff, with the largest improvements among lower-ability workers.

In customer service, novice agents benefited most. The most experienced staff experienced little improvement and, in some cases, slight quality declines. The industry experiment mentioned above found below-average performers improved by 43%, while top performers gained 17%. So the biggest gains go to the least experienced workers, narrowing the gap between top and bottom performers within firms.

That sounds like good news. But there’s a catch.

While AI may compress skills inside firms, the broader labour market is telling a different story. Entry-level roles are shrinking in AI-exposed occupations. The routine tasks that once justified hiring juniors – jobs which provided learning opportunities for those on the bottom rung – are the first to be automated.

Economic theory has long warned that automation displaces workers from tasks, and the creation of new tasks to counterbalance this is neither automatic nor guaranteed. An estimated 60% of jobs in advanced economies face some AI exposure.

In most realistic scenarios, inequality worsens without deliberate intervention – partly because higher-income workers hold more capital assets and stand to gain from rising returns on AI-related investments.

The pattern that is emerging is this: AI helps those already inside the door while quietly narrowing the door for those trying to get in.

Paying attention to the right question

Sector matters. Firm size matters. Job type matters. The AI transition is not one story. It is many – unfolding at different speeds, with different consequences, depending on where you sit in the economy.

The debate has been stuck between breathless optimism and existential dread. Neither is useful. The evidence points somewhere more uncomfortable: a transformation that is real but partial, fast in some corners and stalled in others – and distributing its costs and benefits in ways that are shaped by existing inequalities.

If the productivity gains are genuine, the question is: who captures them? If entry-level work is disappearing, what replaces it? And if the gap between firms that adopt and those that cannot is widening, the focus should be on what we are building in response. Just talking about it won’t be enough.

Vivek Soundararajan, Professor of Work and Equality, University of Bath

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Reviewed by Asim BN.

Read next:

• New research warns charities against ‘AI shortcut’ to empathy

• Teaching teens critical thinking could be key to challenging fake news, AI slop and toxic social media

by External Contributor via Digital Information World

New research warns charities against ‘AI shortcut’ to empathy

By UEA Communications

A new report from the University of East Anglia (UEA) warns that the potential reputational damage of charities using AI-generated images in their campaigns is more complex than many organisations realise.

It comes as humanitarian budgets tighten and production pressures increase, with many charities and NGOs turning to AI tempted by the offers of speed, cost efficiency and creative flexibility.

High-tech shortcut backfiring

The study suggests the charity and development sector’s "high-tech shortcut" to empathy is backfiring. While AI offers a cheaper, faster way to produce campaign visuals, it risks breaking the fundamental bond of trust between charities and the public, say the authors.

The report, Artificial Authenticity, analysed 171 AI-generated images and more than 400 public comments surrounding campaigns from 17 organisations, including Amnesty International, Plan International, the World Health Organization (WHO) and WWF.

The findings reveal a worrying shift - that when AI images are used, the humanitarian cause effectively disappears from the conversation. The researchers found the introduction of AI fundamentally reshapes how the public engages with charity.

Co-author David Girling, from UEA’s School of Global Development, said: “Charities exist because people care about other people. The moment when audiences start questioning whether what they are seeing is real, the emotional connection that drives support is put at risk. 

“The debate about the ethics of AI is increasingly polarised. AI is not inherently wrong, but if it begins to overshadow the human story at the heart of charitable work, organisations could lose far more in trust than they gain in efficiency.” 

What the research shows

Key findings from the study, published today, include:

• Nearly 70 per cent of the AI images analysed were designed to appear photorealistic. Poverty was the dominant theme, accounting for around a third of the images (51 of 171), and often featuring children, followed by environment (35) and human rights (32) themed images. 
• While 85 per cent of images were appropriately captioned as AI generated, this disclosure did not protect the cause and organisations from backlash, even when transparently labelled.
• In undisclosed campaigns, the audience adopted an "investigative tone." Instead of evaluating the charity's work, commenters focused entirely on whether the images were artificial or not. 
• The report also found significant public backlash against "message-medium misalignment". For example, environmental organisations like WWF Denmark faced criticism for using energy-intensive AI tools to promote sustainability, an irony not lost on a climate-conscious public who labelled the move "ecocidal" 
• For some organisations, mock visuals are seen as a way to balance storytelling with safeguarding and dignity. Therefore, using AI-generated imagery could reduce the number of people who would have been otherwise re-traumatised by the process of being photographed or filmed for campaign purposes. However, the study shows that donors often reject these "fake" images, prioritising their own need for an "authentic witness" over the beneficiary’s right to privacy.

The researchers found the public response was far from simple. In some cases, people welcomed AI as a way to protect vulnerable individuals from exploitation. In others, they criticised it as a distraction from real solutions, particularly in emotionally sensitive campaigns such as cancer or famine.

When AI is used, discussion often shifts away from the cause and towards debates about technology and trust. Of the comments analysed: 141 focused on AI ethics and authenticity concerns, not the charitable cause; 122 critiqued technical execution and visual quality; only 80 (less than 20 per cent) actually engaged with the humanitarian issue itself.

Audiences increasingly sceptical

Co-author Deborah Adesina, a former Master’s student in the School of Global Development and now a media, communications and development consultant, said: “Ultimately, the future of charity storytelling will not hinge on technological capability alone. It will depend on whether organisations can maintain legitimacy, transparency and moral coherence in an environment where audiences are increasingly media literate and increasingly sceptical.

“For communications teams who opt to include generative AI in their workflow, proper training in ethical prompt engineering will be crucial to avoid reputational harm and unintended bias.”

The study, Artificial Authenticity: The Rise of Images Generated by Artificial Intelligence in Charity and Development Communications, maps current practice and offers practical recommendations for charities, fundraisers and sector leaders navigating this rapidly evolving digital landscape.

These include working with technology providers and AI companies to develop charity-sector-specific AI tools with built-in bias detection, stereotype alerts, and ethical guardrails tailored to humanitarian representation.

In addition, if choosing to use AI-generated imagery, organisations should co-create it with local communities by involving them in the creative process, including generating AI prompts and approving final imagery to ensure they are accurate and culturally appropriate.

The full report and the database of AI-generated charity images are available at www.charity-advertising.co.uk. 

Image: Masjid Pogung Dalangan / Unsplash

This post was originally published by the University of East Anglia Norwich and is republished here with permission.

Reviewed by Ayaz Khan.

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• Teaching teens critical thinking could be key to challenging fake news, AI slop and toxic social media
by External Contributor via Digital Information World

Teaching teens critical thinking could be key to challenging fake news, AI slop and toxic social media

By Taylor & Francis

How critical thinking skills could empower teens to navigate the digital world safely

Social media is where teenagers spend most of their time, either scrolling and sharing, or sometimes falling into the traps of fake news, toxic content and online drama. But what if we could equip our young people to challenge harmful narratives and protect themselves from the darker side of the internet?

In a world where everyone documents their lives online and algorithms dictate what people see, while apps mine personal data and misinformation spreads, teenagers are at the epicentre of this digital storm.

So how can we help them to navigate this complex landscape? Dr Maree Davies, Senior Lecturer at the University of Auckland, believes the answer lies in critical thinking.

In her new book, Teaching Critical Thinking to Teenagers: How Kids Can Be Street Smart about AI, Algorithms, Fake News, and Social Media, she suggests parents and educators can equip teens with the tools to allow them to navigate the digital world safely and responsibly.

Critical thinking involves being able to objectively – without emotion – analyse and assess something, and make a reasoned judgement on its value or purpose. Skills include logical reasoning, evaluating different forms of evidence and unbiased analysis.

Critical thinking skills are challenging for many, but particularly teenagers, whose prefrontal cortex are still developing (the part of the brain capable of logical processing). However, Dr Davies argues it is not only possible to teach young people to begin building and honing these vital skills, but it is also a crucial time to do so.

As well as being able to spot fake news and conspiracy theories, Dr Davies suggests equipping teens with critical thinking skills can also protect them against the addictive nature of social media and profound online harms such as sextortion, revenge porn, and online bullying.

Why critical thinking matters

Whether it’s TikTok, Instagram, or Snapchat, young people are constantly consuming huge amounts of content tailored to their likes and interests. But what they might not realise is how algorithms shape what they see, often reinforcing biases and pushing them into echo chambers.

Often young people are exposed to this content without a developed understanding of how algorithms work.

“Teenagers today are not just passive consumers of content; they are active participants in a digital ecosystem that can empower or exploit them,” Dr Davies argues. “Critical thinking is the key to breaking free from this cycle.”

Dr Davies argues that critical thinking is more vital than ever, and can help teens make informed decisions.

“Teenagers need to understand that the digital world is not neutral,” she explains. “It’s shaped by societal forces, commercial interests, and algorithms designed to influence their behaviour. By teaching them to think critically, we give them the tools to discern truth from falsehood, resist manipulation, and engage ethically online.”

Teaching critical thinking: the role of parents and educators

Dr Davies says shielding teenagers from the internet is not the solution. Instead, educators and parents must take an active role in preparing teens to navigate the digital world wisely.

“We can’t control the internet, but we can empower teenagers to challenge harmful narratives, engage in respectful dialogue, and become informed citizens,” she states. “By fostering these abilities, we can help teenagers thrive in a world where information is abundant but truth is often elusive.”

Dr Davies advocates taking a hands-on approach to teaching critical thinking.

She recommends parents and guardians speak often to their teens about fake news, and how it is designed to provoke emotional reactions and avoid scrutiny, so it can spread fast. She encourages adults to advise teens to slow down and think before sharing, and demonstrate this behaviour when talking about things seen online.

Additionally, she suggests showing teens how to evaluate sources, seek multiple perspectives and trace information back to its original context – such as checking sources, finding credible academic papers and using trusted news sites. By developing these skills, teens can identify misinformation and resist the urge to share it.

“Critical thinking isn’t just about analysing information, it’s about connecting ideas to personal experiences, respecting diverse perspectives, and remaining open to change,” she explains. “We need to encourage teens to approach the digital world with empathy, resilience, and a willingness to adapt their views based on evidence.

“It’s not about lecturing them, it’s about giving them practical skills they can use every day, in the same way you help your child to learn to read, write or tie their shoelaces.”

Building resilience in

The psychological toll of the digital age is undeniable. From the addictive nature of social media to the harmful effects of online bullying, teenagers face unique challenges that can impact their mental health and wellbeing.

Dr Davies draws on renowned psychologist Albert Bandura’s theories of self-efficacy and moral disengagement to explain why some individuals behave unethically online and how teens can protect themselves.

Being open and honest with your teen about the dangers online can help to build trust with teens and foster open conversations about sensitive issues, she explains, where teens feel comfortable seeking help and navigating challenges like sextortion and online bullying.

“Teaching self-regulation and critical thinking can teens build resilience against these challenges,” she explains. “It equips them to recognize manipulative tactics, resist harmful behaviours, and maintain their mental health in an increasingly digital world.”

Image: Cullen Jones / Unsplash

Further information:

Teaching Critical Thinking to Teenagers: How Kids Can Be Street Smart about AI, Algorithms, Fake News and Social Media,by Maree Davies (Routledge, 2026)

ISBN: Paperback: 9781032944906 | Hardback 9781032944913 | eBook 9781003570998

DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003570998

About the author:

Maree Daviesis a Senior Lecturer at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. Her research focuses on how to ensure critical thinking is accessible to all teenagers.

Taylor & Francis contact: Becky Parker-Ellis, Media Relations Manager, Email: newsroom@taylorandfrancis.com, Tel.: +(44) 7818 911310.

Note: This post was originally published on the Taylor & Francis Group newsroom and is republished here with permission.

Reviewed by Ayaz Khan.

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• Americans Spend an Average of 6.3 Hours Daily on Mobile Devices; Older Users Log Up to 358 Minutes Across 17 Apps

• New Survey Debunks Digital Detox Myth: 60% Never Switch Off, 45% Can’t Last 12 Hours Offline

by External Contributor via Digital Information World

Americans Spend an Average of 6.3 Hours Daily on Mobile Devices; Older Users Log Up to 358 Minutes Across 17 Apps

By Adam Blacker | Apptopia

We took a look at Apptopia’s U.S. consumer panel data spanning January 2023 through December 2025 to understand high-level trends in mobile time spent, app usage and engagement depth. The big number is 6.3 hours per day. That is the average amount of time people are spending using their mobile phones each day. If you assume 8 hours of sleep each day, that’s 39% of the day devoted to being on your mobile device.

The average U.S. mobile user spent 5.5 hours per day on their phone in January 2023. By December 2025, that figure climbed to 6.3 hours, an increase of nearly 51 minutes per day, or about 15.6%. To put it differently, Americans are now spending roughly 190 hours per month on mobile. That’s more than a full-time work week every month, just on your phone. Although, it does feel weird to still be calling it a phone, doesn’t it?

To have a moment of self-promotion, I have to say that for investors in consumer businesses, this makes mobile consumer activity data even more valuable to your investment theses.

Older users flipped the script

Now here’s the finding I didn’t expect. In January 2023, younger users averaged 288 minutes per day versus 281 for older users, a small but expected gap. Everyone assumes the kids are glued to their phones. But starting around mid-2024, older users overtook younger users in daily screen time and never looked back.

Younger users are defined as those being aged 17-25. Older users are being defined as those aged 36+.

By the end of 2025, older users were consistently logging 340 to 358 minutes per day, often outpacing younger users by 10 to 17 minutes. In July 2025, the gap hit its widest: older users at 341 minutes versus 325 for younger. Older users surpassed younger users for time spent in 14 of the last 17 months of the dataset.

Over the full period, older users grew their daily time by 27.5%, compared to 24.9% for younger users. It’s hard to know exactly why this is happening but I have two theories. The first is that younger Americans are actively trying to disengage from technology. The other is that there is increasingly an app for everything mundane in life, which tend to be things older users would be leveraging. These are called companion apps. Think of dishwashers, house lights, hearing aids, grills, toothbrushes, etc.

But younger users go deeper

While older users spend more total time, they spread it across more apps. Older users went from opening about 15 apps per day in early 2023 to more than 17 by the end of 2025, a 13.4% increase.

Younger users are opening fewer apps, roughly 14.6 per day, but spend 25.4 minutes per app, which is 59% more per-app time than the overall average. They’re locked into their sessions. For platforms competing for younger eyeballs, this means you either win big or you’re invisible. There’s less room in the middle.

The 90+ minute apps are on the rise

Looking at the distribution of how much time apps on a person’s device receive each month, the 90+ minute bucket grew the fastest, from about 8 apps per device in January 2023 to nearly 10 by December 2025. That’s a 24.6% increase. Meanwhile, light-touch apps receiving under 5 minutes per month barely budged, growing just 1.4%.

This means consumers are adding apps that command real time. The share of apps in that 90+ minute tier rose from 27.5% of all used apps to 30.4%. Almost one in three apps on the average device is now getting an hour and a half or more of attention per month. These are typically apps like Netflix, YouTube, TikTok, Google Maps, mobile games, etc.

Mobile data’s growing importance for investors

This data reframes how you should think about the mobile consumer wallet and attention pool. The total addressable time grew 15.6% in three years with no signs of flattening. The older user surge has real revenue implications. Older consumers tend to have higher disposable income and higher average order values. The fact that this cohort grew mobile time by 27.5% and now uses 17+ apps per day means they are increasingly reachable and transactable through mobile.

Reviewed by Asim BN.

Note: This post was originally published on Apptopia blog and is republished on DIW with permission.

Read next: 

• Smartphone Brands: Shifting Loyalty?

• Most workers embrace AI, but 84% worry about the risks, study says

by External Contributor via Digital Information World

Smartphone Brands: Shifting Loyalty?

by Tristan Gaudiaut | Data Journalist Statista

In the smartphone market, users' brand loyalty remains strong for industry leaders Apple and Samsung, but a notable share of customers say they could switch in the future. According to Statista Consumer Insights surveys conducted between January and December 2025, Apple currently has the largest user base in the United States, the United Kingdom and Japan, while Samsung leads in Germany.

In the United States, 47 percent of respondents primarily use an iPhone, compared with 29 percent who use a Samsung device. At the same time, more than a third of Apple users (35 percent) say they are likely to change smartphone brands, while the share is slightly lower among Samsung users (31 percent). A similar pattern can be seen in the United Kingdom, where Apple also leads in usage (47 percent vs. 34 percent), although roughly three in ten users of both brands say they may switch.

Germany stands out as a Samsung stronghold, with 38 percent of respondents primarily using the South Korean company’s smartphones, compared with 35 percent for Apple. Here, however, Samsung users appear more loyal: only 20 percent say they are likely to change brand, compared with 28 percent of Apple users.

Japan presents the most striking contrast. While Apple dominates the market with 43 percent of respondents using an iPhone primarily, Samsung has a much smaller user base at 8 percent (just behind Sharp, Google, and Sony, at 10-12 percent). It is among the Japanese consumers that Samsung's brand loyalty appears weaker, with around 34 percent saying they are likely to switch brands, whereas loyalty to Apple is the strongest among the countries analyzed (only 21 percent of iPhone users are likely to change).

Chart: Statista

This article first appeared on Statista and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

Reviewed by Irfan Ahmad.

Read next: Most workers embrace AI, but 84% worry about the risks, study says
by External Contributor via Digital Information World

ChatGPT Uninstalls Surge Amidst Deal With US Department of War

Written by: Kara Lee, Brand and Digital Advertising Analyst at Sensor Tower

ChatGPT’s uninstalls surged a whopping 295% DoD (day-over-day) on Saturday February 28, 2026, as its partnership with the US Department of War has been met with criticism for its US app users. Negative app reviews for ChatGPT have also jumped, while Claude’s refusal to partner with the Department of War has pushed the app into the top spot by category rankings over the past weekend on the US Apple App Store.

Key Takeaways:

• According to Sensor Tower data, US app uninstalls for ChatGPT surged 295% DoD (day-over-day) on Saturday, February 28th, 2026, as users responded to OpenAI’s deal with the Department of War.
  • In contrast, ChatGPT has only averaged a 9% DoD uninstall rate over the past 30 days.
  • ChatGPT uninstalls continue to climb as criticism mounts, uninstalls are already up 8% DoD on March 3, 2026. ChatGPT’s daily average uninstall rate since its posted partnership with the Department of War is up 200% (2/28/26-3/3/26) vs the previous 30 days (2/27/26-1/28/26).
• According to Sensor Tower data, Claude is still experiencing a boon from its decision to decline a partnership with the Pentagon. This shift may be most accentuated by the fact that Claude outpaced ChatGPT in US downloads on March 2, 2026, the first time that in Claude’s history.

• Per Sensor Tower data, ChatGPT saw a slight decline in global downloads on Sunday (3/1/26), down 4% DoD, potentially aligning with broader coverage of OpenAI’s deal with the Pentagon. ChatGPT’s downloads also fell 3% DoD on Monday (3/2/26), while Claude has averaged 17% DoD growth during the same period.
  • ChatGPT’s global DAUs increased 3% DoD on Monday (3/2/26), while Claude saw DAUs jump 10% DoD during the same period. However, Claude's double-digit growth may also be attributed to the app’s relatively small audience, as ChatGPT’s mobile audience is 60x larger than Anthropic’s Claude.

• Per Sensor Tower data, Claude saw US downloads jump 37% and 51% DoD on 2/27/26 and 2/28/26, respectively, aligning with the news that the company would not partner with the Department of War.
  • While Google Gemini was not involved in the Department of War partnership discussions the app’s US downloads increased 9% DoD during the same period (2/2/7026-2/28/26), a slight increase from the app’s 2% DoD average over the past 30 days (1/28/26-2/27/26).
• ChatGPT’s download growth is directly correlated to the news of its partnership with the Department of War. On Friday (2/27/26), the app’s US downloads grew 14% DoD. However, as soon as OpenAI announced its military partnership on Saturday (2/28/26), downloads fell by 13% DoD and continued to fall, down 5% DoD on Sunday (3/1/26).
  • ChatGPT had previously averaged a 2% DoD increase in US downloads over the past 30 days (1/28/26-2/27/26)
• According to Sensor Tower estimates, Claude’s announcement that it would not partner with the Department of War coincided with the app reaching the top spot on the Apple App Store in the US on Saturday (2/28/26). Claude has continued its reign on the top of the charts, remaining in the top spot for the past 4 days, while ChatGPT has dropped one spot during the same period (ranking 2 on the Apple App Store during the same period).
  • Claude’s surge to the top of the charts highlights the significant momentum that the app has experienced in the past week, jumping over 20 spots vs 2/22/26. Furthermore, Claude has climbed over 100 spots in the Apple App Store over the past 30 days, as the app ranked 124th on January 28th, 2026.

• Per Sensor Tower data, US consumer perception of ChatGPT after its deal with the Department of War may best be exemplified by the app’s ratings within the Apple App Store. 1-star reviews for ChatGPT surged 775% DoD on Saturday (2/28/26) and has continued to grow 100% DoD on Sunday (3/1/2026).
  • Similarly, 5-star reviews for ChatGPT fell 50% DoD over the same period (2/28/26-3/1/26).
• ChatGPT received over 5,000 1-star reviews yesterday (3/2/2026), a 480% DoD increase as negative reviews for the app continue to climb while 5-star reviews fell by 42% DoD during the same period.
• According to Sensor Tower estimates, Claude's US DAUs climbed 12% DoD on Friday (2/27/26) as consumers responded to the AI company officially not partnering with the DoW.
  • Claude has continued to experience positive user growth, as DAUs increased by 5% and 8% DoD, on 2/28/26-3/1/26, respectively.
  • Claude also saw in-app subscription (IAP) revenue jump 28% and 25% DoD on 2/27/26-2/28/26, respectively, which also speaks to the commitment that new users are making in switching to a potentially new preferred AI platform. This may also be highlighted by Claude’s recent release of a memory import feature.
• ChatGPT’s US DAUs declined by 13% DoD on Saturday (2/28/26).
  • ChatGPT continued to experience DAU deceleration on Sunday (3/1/26), as DAUs fell 5% DoD. ChatGPT’s US DAUs are down by 2% vs the previous week (2/23/26).
• Per Sensor Tower data, ChatGPT’s US website visits fell by 16% DoD on Saturday (2/28/26), while website visits have fallen by 17% on Sunday (3/1/26) vs the previous week (2/23/26).
  • Claude’s US website visits ticked up 3% DoD on Friday (2/27/26), while website visits are currently up 6% vs the previous week on Sunday (3/1/26 vs 2/23/26).

For more information, request the full report from reports@sensortower.com.

Note: This post was originally published on Sensor Tower, a market intelligence firm, and republished on DIW with permission.

Edited by Ayaz Khan.

Read next:

• Who’s Winning the AI Chatbot Race: OpenAI's ChatGPT, Google Gemini, or Anthropic Claude?

• Creator Economy Report: 51.5% of Creators Saw Earnings Growth, 48.7% Earn Under $10K, 76% TikTok Posts Get Under 1K Views
by External Contributor via Digital Information World

Creator Economy Report: 51.5% of Creators Saw Earnings Growth, 48.7% Earn Under $10K, 76% TikTok Posts Get Under 1K Views

By Alessandro Bogliari

The U.S. creator economy is moving toward a period of massive growth in 2026, driven by recent developments in artificial intelligence, community engagement, and other factors. Content creators are now at the center of today’s media landscape, with a 10% CAGR in their global population and over $10.5M in projected brand spend for their work. Moreover, influencer marketing has become one of the most effective methods for leading brands to reach, engage, and convert consumers. 56% of Gen Z and 43% of Millennial users report that they now consider creator content more relevant than TV or film, and over 41% of Gen Zers in particular use social platforms as their primary search engine. The creator economy and the greater marketing industry are actively seeing a full-scale shift toward intent-based discovery powered by authentic creators, and now is the most crucial time to strategize how brands collaborate with these social-first voices.

This February, The Influencer Marketing Factory (TIMF) published its Creator Economy 2026 Report, which combines large-scale third-party platform data, contributed by HypeAuditor, with original survey research to illustrate the current state of the creator economy for marketers. With exclusive insights from over 5M creator accounts and 1,000 U.S.-based creator survey respondents, the 2026 Creator Economy Report is your new go-to source for key trends and marketing strategies for both brands and influencers.

1. Big Picture 2026 Creator Economy Trends

2026 will be the year of in-person creator activations and matured creator entrepreneurship. IRL (In Real Life) creator events are gaining momentum as powerful community-building experiences that also drive direct sales for both brands and creator-led businesses. These creator businesses are now fueled by venture capital more than ever before, from VC firms like Slow Ventures or dedicated creator funds. Besides typical digital products or consumer-packaged goods, creator media companies are making up the next wave of influencer entrepreneurship due in part to the accelerating popularity of microdramas and TV streaming.

On the brand side, retailers such as Sephora and GAP have launched specialized social commerce platforms and affiliate programs for creators to lean into users’ digital spending habits. Brands are also finding that LinkedIn can serve as a viable B2C marketing channel as new video tools on the platform attract consumer brands beyond a traditional B2B focus. Although older Gen Z and Millennial audiences are growing in size across social platforms, Gen Alpha poses as the new marketing machine for brands, given their rising spending power and cultural influence. Of course, brands continue to look to creators for valuable trend insights and content strategy, which is why leading companies are increasingly welcoming influencers into C-Suite creative roles and prioritizing co-creation across major creator marketing campaigns.

2. Analyzing 5M+ Creators: Key Trends & Audience Insights

To deliver an accurate and comprehensive view of the creator economy, The Influencer Marketing Factory partnered with HypeAuditor to analyze creator performance, audience demographics, and content trends across over 5M creator accounts. The following are some of TIMF’s top findings, which examine engagement levels, active creator counts, popular content categories, and content performance among creators with predominantly U.S. audiences.

• Maturing Audiences Across All Platforms: The largest audience segment across TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube is now 25-34, signaling a maturing creator economy and making this age group the primary target for cross-platform brand campaigns.
• TikTok Boasts Highest Median Engagement Rate vs. Competitors: Hypeauditor’s data reveals that TikTok is the most democratized short-form video platform, with a steady median engagement rate (ER) across all audience sizes.
• Short-Form ERs Dominate Long-Form: Short-form video delivers the strongest engagement across platforms in comparison to long-form content, and according to TIMF, TikTok continues to deliver the strongest and most consistent median engagement rates, YouTube Shorts engagement tends to improve as creators scale, while Instagram Reels often sees engagement dip as follower counts rise.
• Creator Visibility Challenge: 46.2% of Instagram creators, 76% of TikTok creators, 59.1% of long-form YouTubers, and 39.94% of YouTube Shorts creators receive fewer than 1K views per post, which represents how difficult it is to still generate steady and scalable reach across platforms, regardless of follower count.
• Instagram Shifts From Image to Video First Format: According to HypeAuditor, Reels posting cadence grew by 3.8% from 2024 to 2025, all while image posts fell by 6.41%, signaling how creators who rely on static content are losing visibility in 2026.

3. The Influencer Marketing Factory’s 2026 Creator Economy Survey

TIMF surveyed 1,000 U.S.-based content creators to analyze their sentiment towards AI usage, brand deal compensation, and partnership structures. The following are some of the top takeaways from TIMF’s 2026 Creator Economy Survey:

• Creator Revenue Diversification: While ad revenue is the top-earning revenue stream (21.6%) for U.S. creators, product/merch sales and affiliate marketing now represent a combined 21.2% of creator income, demonstrating the growing interest in self-owned revenue streams rather than dependence on brand deals and platform programs.
• The Emerging Creator “Middle Class”: 48.7% of U.S. creators earn under $10K annually, 45.6% earn between $10K-$100K, and 5.7% earn $100K or more, signaling the emergence of a viable “middle class” in the creator economy in 2026.
• Creators Prefer Partnership Stability: 44.9% of content creators value stability, consistency, and deeper brand alignment over one-off brand campaigns.
• Over Half of All U.S. Creators Report Increasing Earnings: More than half (51.5%) of U.S.-based influencers achieved earnings growth year-over-year in 2025, a noteworthy statistic given the algorithm volatility and increased competition that defined last year.
• Creators Point to Strategic Brand Building in 2026: The new wave of creator entrepreneurs is approaching, with video production (22.4%) and branding (20%) being top priorities for skill development and professionalization in 2026.

4. Key Quotes & Takeaways from Industry Experts

The following are exclusive quotes from top leaders and industry experts on what the creator economy will look like this year.

• AI as a Co-Pilot For Human Creativity: “AI will be built into most workflows, helping marketers with tasks like finding and analyzing creators, forecasting performance, and testing messages. Since AI will be everywhere, the ones who succeed will be those who use it to speed up the work but still trust their own judgment, staying in the driver’s seat and leaving AI as a co-pilot. As AI spreads and many touchpoints start to feel generic, this mix of measurable impact and human, community-led content will be a key reason to invest more in influencers.” - Alexander Frolov, CEO & Co-Founder of HypeAuditor
• Creators Building Sustainable Businesses: “Today, creators are spending less time trying to win on individual platforms and considerably more time building sustainable businesses. 2026 is cementing a shift toward ownership, diversification, and direct, authentic relationships with audiences. That means that tools that can help creators manage that complexity matter more than any single algorithm or platform decision.” - Alex Zaccaria, CEO & Co-Founder of Linktree
• The Growing Influence of Creator IP: “The clearest patterns across the strongest social work this year, from brands and creators alike, revealed a shift away from ‘campaign thinking’ and toward programming thinking. The best brands no longer aim to win a single moment; they architect content systems that are serialized, character-driven, community-activated, globally scalable, and increasingly AI-powered. They are behaving less like advertisers and more like IP houses.” - Jared Carneson, Head of Global Social Media at Adobe
• Content Creators vs. Creator Entrepreneurs: “Influencer marketing will shift toward creators who can demonstrate business impact, not just reach, meaning creators who understand audience trust, community, and conversion will outperform those relying on vanity metrics. Platforms will still matter, but creators who think cross-platform and off-platform will be the most resilient. The gap between “content creators” and “creator-entrepreneurs” will widen and the latter will define the next era.” - Gigi Robinson, Founder, Creator, & Author, Hosts of Influence
• Why Niche Communities & Creator Storyelling Win Big: “Creators that hit key audiences and niche communities will find success in a year where brands are eager to go direct to consumers. Creators don’t just endorse, they produce, distribute, and contextualize the message for a specific audience. Trust lives inside communities, not mass reach...Products still need storytellers, and audiences still follow people they trust.” - Brooke Berry, Head of Creator Development at Snap Inc.

For more exclusive insights on influencer marketing, download TIMF’s 2026 Creator Economy Report with over 60 pages of free data and tips here.

Image: Ron Lach / Pexels

About author:
Alessandro Bogliari s a digital entrepreneur and growth marketer. He is the co-founder & CEO of the Influencer Marketing Factory, a global influencer marketing agency that helps brands and companies launch influencer marketing campaigns on TikTok, Instagram and Youtube. Alessandro is also a member of the Forbes agency council and Fast Company executive board.

Reviewed by Asim BN.

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