Women have nearly caught men on chatbot use: the gap is now 3 pts

The gender gap in AI chatbot use has almost closed. In a Pew Research survey of 5,119 US adults (Feb 17–23, 2026), 50% of men and 47% of women said they have used an AI chatbot. In 2024 the figures were 39% and 28%, an 11-point gap. One caveat: in 2024 Pew asked only people who had heard of chatbots, so the two years don't compare perfectly.

The gap is still there in how often people use them. 27% of men use a chatbot daily, against 20% of women. ChatGPT is used equally (44% each), but men lead on almost every other app: Gemini 29% vs 20%, Copilot 22% vs 13%, Grok 11% vs 4% and Claude 9% vs 4%. Meta AI is the exception, with women ahead at 15% vs 13%. Men are also more likely to say chatbots make them more productive (35% vs 25%).

Women are more doubtful about AI overall. 33% of women expect AI to hurt them personally over the next 20 years, compared with 27% of men. And 68% of women think AI is developing too quickly, against 58% of men.

Why it matters: men and women now try chatbots at about the same rate, but men use them daily more often and trust them more, so the next gender gap is about habit and trust.