AI has become a constant presence in our lives, whether we like it or not. From the ubiquitous ChatGPT Pro to bizarrely unhinged ad campaigns featuring AK47-toting pandas, it is nearly impossible to avoid references to artificial intelligence. Despite this pervasiveness, a massive portion of the gaming community claims they don't use AI at all.

The Surprising Number of Users Who Don't Use AI at All

When looking at the PC gaming landscape specifically, there is often a strong resistance toward developers using AI in games. You only need to look at the recent furor surrounding DLSS 5 to see how the community feels about AI integration. To get a clearer picture of these sentiments, we polled our readers to ask: "Do you use AI, and if really, what for?"

Allowing users to select up to three different answers provided some much-needed nuance to the data. The results show a significant divide in how technology is being embraced:

  • 47%: I don't use AI at all
  • 27%: I use it for in-game upscaling (such as DLSS or FSR)
  • 23%: I use it for research or ideation
  • 18%: I use it for coding
  • 7%: I USE IT FOR EVERYTHING
  • 4%: It writes my emails for me
  • 2%: It does all my schoolwork
  • 1%: I have OpenClaw set up running my digital life

The Gap Between Upscaling and Total Avoidance

The results were unexpected. While I anticipated a healthy percentage of readers saying they don't use AI at all, I expected more people to be using upscaling technologies. Given that PC gamers have had access to DLSS since 2019, it is surprising that nearly half of our respondents avoid these tools entirely.

Some may be ideologically opposed to the tech, perhaps happy to accept lower frame rates to maintain their principles. I might be a "weak human being" for sticking DLSS Quality on every setting I can find, but seeing 47% of readers claim they don't use AI at all is still a shock.

The Practical Utility of AI in Tech

On the other side of the spectrum, more than half of our readers are integrating AI into their workflows. It was particularly interesting to see that 18% of readers are actively using it for coding. I can personally relate to this; access to AI coding tools has changed how I approach testing. If a tool doesn't exist to test something, there is now a chance even a novice can build one.

While 23% use it for research and a tiny 7% claim to use it for everything, the impact is clearly growing. Whether it is 1% of users running their lives through OpenClaw or the rest of us using it for productivity, the conversation is far from over.