Almost half of Italians still don’t use AI (yet), Samsung research

AI is now firmly entrenched in everyday discourse, yet there remains a considerable gap between its theoretical prominence and its actual adoption in daily routines.

What this snapshot of the Italian landscape reveals is the Samsung Trend Radar 2026 survey, conducted in collaboration with Toluna, which shows that as many as 42% of the population use AI-based tools little or not at all.

In particular, 23% of respondents admit to not using them at all, while 19% use them only rarely. Conversely, barely 35% of the sample reports having frequently integrated such systems into their daily habits.

Samsung: In Italy, still only a few use AI

The research highlights how understanding the real potential of this technology is still partial. For 56% of Italians, in fact, artificial intelligence is identified almost exclusively with chatbots capable of answering questions. Voice assistants follow at 47% and automatic translation tools stand at 44%.

This tendency to reduce the algorithm to single isolated functions penalizes the perception of integrated systems: only 34% of users associate automation with the connected home and barely 33% link it to smart appliances.

Despite 58% admitting a superficial knowledge of the topic and 65% failing to notice its presence in everyday devices, there is strong curiosity.

71% of respondents recognize the usefulness of these systems for time optimization and want to delve deeper into how they work.

The contradiction between technological possession and ecosystem

The data show a country broadly digitalized in terms of personal devices, with 93% of citizens owning a smartphone, 82% a computer and 80% a smart TV.

However, the widespread presence of devices does not automatically translate into understanding the benefits of a connected network.

Only 15% of Italians perceive the interaction between different devices as a real advantage of automation. Even among owners of latest-generation appliances, only 22% fully rely on adaptive settings.

According to Emanuele De Longhi, Head of Corporate Marketing of Samsung Electronics Italia, the issue clearly emerges more from user awareness than from the availability of tools on the market. The aim is therefore to simplify usage experiences to make technology a concrete and accessible support for anyone.

Real and invisible applications in everyday life

To bridge this gap, technological development is turning toward solutions capable of acting discreetly yet effectively inside the devices already present in homes.

In the entertainment sector, recent television models, such as the ranges Micro RGB, Neo QLED 4K, OLED and Mini LED, integrate advanced systems such as the Vision AI Companion to process images and audio in real time depending on the viewing context.

In the home segment, the Bespoke AI Series 90 dishwasher adjusts consumption and temperature via sensors that assess how dirty things are, optimizing energy resources.

Finally, in the mobile sector, the Samsung Galaxy S26 offers predictive features such as Now Nudge and Now Brief for managing personal information, accompanied by advanced visual search tools and in collaboration with intelligent assistants such as Gemini and Perplexity.

This approach aims to make the algorithm perceived not as a distant element or confined to a messaging interface, but as a useful and perfectly integrated resource in daily life.