Survey: AI users rank saving time among most valuable benefits
September 18, 2026



Parks Associates has released research from its AI Experience Consumer Insights Dashboard showing 54 per cent of AI users in US internet households rank ‘saving time’ among AI’s top five most valuable benefits. Eighteen per cent rank ‘saves me time’ as the single most valuable benefit, twice the percentage of AI users selecting any other AI function measured.

The research, based on the firm’s quarterly survey work of 8,000 US internet households, shows consumers place the greatest value on AI when it helps them complete tasks faster, learn, make decisions and improve productivity.


“Companies need to show how AI makes tasks easier, improves productivity, or helps consumers make better decisions,” said Jennifer Kent, SVP and Principal Analyst, Parks Associates. “These benefits will help determine which AI experiences consumers continue to use and ultimately pay for.”

Parks Associates research found consumers are using AI to save time across a variety of tasks:

63 per cent of AI users use the tool to research topics weekly, while 50 per cent use it to summarize information and 46 per cent use it to write or edit text at least weekly.
30 per cent of AI users use an AI tool to create social media content weekly, while 32 per cent use it to generate images or videos weekly.
The value of these benefits is growing as AI reaches more consumers. Generative AI usage now reaches 63% per centof US internet households, and 22 per cent of households pay for AI services.

“Consumers are looking for practical results from AI,” Kent said. “Saving time, learning faster, simplifying recommendations, supporting decisions, and improving productivity are tangible benefits that companies can build into the consumer experience.”