Loudonville, NY (WRGB) — Artificial intelligence is becoming a routine part of life for many New Yorkers, but a new Siena Poll shows the state remains divided over whether the technology is doing more harm than good.

In the poll released April 14, 2026, 43% of New York state residents said the disadvantages of artificial intelligence are too great, while 37% said the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. Another 19% said they don’t know.

The survey found AI chatbots are widely used across the state. Two-thirds of New Yorkers, 67%, said they have used an AI chatbot, while 32% said they have never used one. 44% said they use AI chatbots at least weekly, including 21% who said they use them daily and 23% who said they use them at least once a week.

Compared to last year, 48% of residents said they are using AI tools more, 39% said their use is about the same, and 8% said their use has decreased.

Among New Yorkers who use AI chatbots, 41% said their primary use is mostly for personal reasons, 24% said they use AI mostly for professional reasons, and 32% said they use AI equally for both personal and professional reasons.

Half of AI users, 56%, said they often double-check the information or results provided by an AI tool “always” or “most of the time.”

One in five AI chatbot users, 20%, said they currently pay for a subscription. Payment was more common among frequent users: 28% of those who use AI chatbots at least weekly said they pay for a premium subscription, compared with 5% of those who use chatbots infrequently.

Across both frequent and infrequent AI chatbot users, ChatGPT was the tool used most often, followed by Gemini and Copilot.

Exposure to AI-generated material also appears widespread. Nearly 9 in 10 residents, 92%, said they have seen content in the last 30 days that appeared to be generated by AI.

When asked about trust, New Yorkers expressed mixed views. 35% said they trust results from a traditional search engine more than information provided by an AI chatbot. 8% said they trust AI results more, 28% said they trust search engines and AI output equally, and 23% said they trust neither source.

The poll found familiarity with AI chatbots varies sharply by age. 56% of those under 35 said they are very familiar with AI chatbots, compared with 6% of those 65 and older. In the poll’s age breakdown, 87% of those under 50 said they are very or somewhat familiar, compared with 47% of those 50 and older.

Despite differences in familiarity, concern about AI was similar across age groups, with about four in 10 in both age categories saying the disadvantages outweigh the advantages. Trust differed more: 12% of residents under 50 said they trust AI more than search engines, compared with 2% of those over 50. Residents over 50 were also more likely to say they trust neither AI nor search engines, 32% compared with 16% among those under 50.

Travis Brodbeck, associate director of data management said,

Four years after ChatGPT was released to the public, AI is creeping into everyday life, whether you use a dedicated chatbot app or website, or use AI features embedded in other spaces. Almost every New Yorker, regardless of background, encounters AI-generated content. Like various forms of emerging technology, we see gaps in behaviors and attitudes between the youngest and oldest New Yorkers. These age-related differences risk creating a new element to the ‘digital divide’ where the ability to discern AI content and use AI tools is a new skill required in the digital age.

The Siena University Poll was conducted March 3-14, 2026, among 810 New York state residents and has an overall margin of error of plus or minus 3.6 percentage points, including design effects resulting from weighting.