The rate of businesses in the U.S. using AI is still relatively small but growing rapidly, with firms in information technology and in locations like Colorado and the District of Columbia leading the way, according to a new paper from U.S. Census Bureau researchers.

Overall use of AI tools by firms in the production of goods and services rose from 3.7% last fall to 5.4% in February, and it is expected to rise in the U.S. to 6.6% by early fall, according to the bureau’s Business Trends and Outlook Survey released this spring.

The use of AI by firms is still rather small because many businesses haven’t yet seen a need for it, Census Bureau researchers said in an accompanying paper.

Few firms utilizing AI tools reported laying off workers because of it. Instead, many businesses that use AI were expanding compared to other firms. They also were developing new work flows, training staff on the technology and purchasing related services, the researchers said.

The rate of AI use among business sectors varied widely, from 1.4% in construction and agriculture to 18.1% in information technology.

The type of work AI was used for the most included marketing tasks, customer service chatbots, getting computers to understand human languages, text and data analytics and voice recognition.

The survey showed some ambivalence among firms about whether they will adopt AI. Two-thirds of firms not yet using AI reported that they expect to remain non-users, and 14% of firms not yet using the technology were unsure if they would do so down the road.

— Associated Press