The WIN World AI Index 2026 said that AI adoption had risen in the past year from 62%, with 39% of people using the technology ‘often’ or ‘every day’ – a 24-percentage point rise.

The index said that India was the world’s most AI-engaged nation at 97%, with Ecuador ( 96%) and China ( 92%) also performing highly, and India and China were deemed the joint-top performing nations in the index overall, with Paraguay, Morocco and Indonesia rounding out the top five.

Western markets such as the US, UK, Germany and Japan were deemed ‘cautious adopters’ in their approach to AI, with a large number of hesitant ‘pragmatic users’ ( 41%) and relatively high numbers of active ‘resistors’ ( 19%).

Fewer people used AI every day at work ( 10%) than at home for personal usage ( 12%), the index said.

The results are based on a survey of 40,000 respondents across 44 countries.

Richard Colwell, president at Worldwide Independent Network of Market Research, said: “As AI becomes woven into everyday behaviour, the challenge now is less about adoption and more about adaptation.

“The pace of change is accelerating, and societies will need to evolve just as quickly to ensure trust, transparency and responsible use keep up.”