Adoption, Applications, and Attitudes Toward AI Among Arts and Design Alumni

SNAAP Pulse is an invitation-only survey of arts and design alumni offering a unique opportunity to amplify the voices of creative communities.

Arts and design alumni across the United States are navigating the opportunities and uncertainties associated with generative artificial intelligence in their professional lives, according to results from the 2025 SNAAP Pulse AI and Work survey. While just over half of respondents reported using generative AI in their work, adoption remains uneven. Those who do use AI most often describe it as a support for productivity, idea development, and editing, rather than as a replacement for creative labor.

This national snapshot draws on responses from thousands of arts alumni representing more than 100 colleges and universities, offering insight into how creative professionals are engaging with generative AI, as well as how they perceive its effects on their work and careers. 

The SNAAP AI and Work survey was fielded in Fall 2025 and asked alumni about their use of generative AI at work and at home, their perceptions of AI technologies, the reasons they choose to use or avoid them, and the effects of AI use over the past year. Over 2,000 arts and design alumni completed the survey. The following figures and statistics provide an overview of key findings from the survey. 

Figure 1 shows the proportion of respondents who have used generative AI in their work. Just over half of respondents (51.7%) reported using generative AI in a professional context. About one third of respondents reported never using generative AI either at home or in their work.

Figure 2 illustrates respondents’ perceptions of generative AI across several dimensions, including accuracy, privacy, environmental impact, and job security. The highest levels of agreement were associated with concerns about AI’s accuracy, data privacy, and environmental costs, with more than 80 percent of respondents agreeing or strongly agreeing with these statements. By contrast, concern about AI replacing jobs received the lowest level of agreement among the statements presented.

Figures 3 and 4 report how respondents use generative AI and the effects they attribute to its use. The most common uses include drafting text, editing content, brainstorming, and summarizing information, with nearly 60 percent of AI users reporting use for drafting text. Fewer respondents reported using AI for tasks such as improving accessibility, administrative work, or data cleaning.

Figure 4 shows reported effects of AI use over the past year. Increased productivity, greater experimentation, and expansion of work types were the most frequently cited effects. About 45 percent of AI users reported increased output or productivity, while relatively few indicated that AI use led to higher rates or larger projects.