From Curiosity to Confidence: Consumers Embrace AI

AI is no longer a fringe feature of the digital experience. It’s quickly becoming a core layer of how consumers search, evaluate, and discover products. According to newly released data from NIQ Consumer Life, nearly six in ten U.S. consumers now rely on AI‑generated summaries at least some of the time when searching online and that share rises to about three quarters among Gen Z and Millennials.

For some, especially younger generations, AI summaries not only shape first impressions, frame options, but can eliminate choices altogether by replacing deeper exploration. Roughly one in four Gen Z and Millennial consumers say they trust the AI summary and stop there.

Trust in AI Rises to Match Familiar Media Channels

AI critics have long sounded alarms about technology’s role in generating and spreading misinformation. Yet by synthesizing information across multiple sources, AI also has the potential to present more balanced, less inflammatory perspectives, especially in a polarized media environment. Many Americans appear receptive to that promise.

Despite its relative novelty, AI chatbots and AI‑enhanced search experiences already command more trust than social media among American consumers. More notably, among those who use AI‑generated summaries at least sometimes, AI slightly outperforms traditional media on trust.

The data also reveal a telling political divide. Consumers who identify as more conservative tend to express lower trust in traditional media and greater confidence in the accuracy of AI‑provided information. Among those who identify as more liberal, the pattern reverses, highlighting how AI trust intersects with broader attitudes toward media ecosystems.