COLUMBIA, September 16 — Most South Carolina businesses are not using artificial intelligence at all, according to a new analysis of federal survey data released in connection with the state’s Workforce Development Month. The finding comes from Lainey Stalnaker, a Data Analytics Writer, who examined the U.S. Census Bureau’s Business Trends and Outlook Survey conducted between November 2025 and February 2026. Just 17.2 percent of South Carolina respondents reported using AI in the last two weeks — essentially on par with the national figure of 17.9 percent.
Nearly three-quarters of state businesses, 73.4 percent, said they had not used AI, and 9.4 percent answered “Do not know.” The analysis was published alongside South Carolina’s Workforce Development Month in September, which features almost 200 events statewide promoted by the Department of Employment and Workforce at dew.sc.gov/wdm.
Where AI Is Taking Hold — and Where It Isn’t
Use varies sharply by sector. Nationally, the sectors most likely to use AI were also those most likely to employ workers with at least a bachelor’s degree, while lower-use sectors typically had lower educational attainment. High-use sectors included legal services, accounting, banking, advertising, publishing, and film production.
The least likely sectors to use AI were Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing, and Hunting at 5.1 percent; Transportation and Warehousing at 7.6 percent; and Mining at 7.7 percent. Among business functions, sales and marketing was the most common AI use.
About 13.6 percent of all South Carolina businesses used some form of AI for sales and marketing, 12.5 percent for strategy and business development, and 9.9 percent for public relations and communications. Generative AI tools such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot, and Claude were used by 19.7 percent of South Carolina businesses. Among those users, writing and editing was the most common purpose, cited by 86.5 percent, including documents, emails, and other communications.
About 47.9 percent used generative AI to search for information or technical help, and 42.5 percent used it to analyze, translate, or summarize documents.
Staffing Decisions Largely Unchanged
On employment, the survey found no major staffing decisions tied to AI access. Among AI-using businesses, 96.3 percent said AI had no effect on total employment. AI was more likely to take over tasks previously done by software, at 14.8 percent of AI-using businesses, than tasks done by employees, at 8.3 percent.
Within the latter group, 85.3 percent said only “a small number” of employee tasks were shifted to AI. Looking ahead, slightly more businesses reported future plans to use AI than current use — 23.2 percent versus 17.2 percent — but most still had no plans.
A total of 57.1 percent said they did not plan to use AI for any business function in the next six months. When asked why, more than half said AI was not applicable to their business. About 24.4 percent cited a lack of knowledge about AI capabilities, and 21.0 percent had privacy concerns.
Laws and regulations restricting AI use, high costs, lack of required data, and lack of a skilled workforce were cited less frequently. The analysis notes one important limitation.
The BTOS measures firm-reported, employer-authorized AI use over the prior two weeks; it cannot capture unauthorized or unapproved worker use of AI tools. Stalnaker’s conclusion is measured. AI use varies across sectors and functions, most South Carolina businesses are not using AI at all, and for most businesses AI supplements rather than replaces employee work — though attitudes may change in the future.
What to watch next: whether the gap between the 17.2 percent currently using AI and the 23.2 percent planning to closes in coming surveys, and whether the sectors with lower educational attainment begin to catch up as the state’s workforce development push continues through September.
