If you’ve been wondering just how many writers use AI tools, the latest AI writing stats tell a pretty clear story: it’s not a niche thing anymore. Whether you’re an author, blogger, or content marketer, chances are you’re either using AI or seriously thinking about it. And that’s smart — because AI isn’t about replacing your voice. It’s about saving time, organizing your thoughts, and helping you move faster on the stuff that usually slows you down.
AI Writing Stats: Who’s Using AI and How
Let’s get into the numbers. HubSpot reports that 74% of marketers now use at least one AI writing tool in their daily work, up from just 35% the year before. The Content Marketing Institute (CMI) shows similar numbers, with 3 out of 4 B2B marketers relying on generative AI to help with content. In the author world, a BookBub survey found that 45% of writers already use AI in their workflow.
So if you’re writing nonfiction and using AI in some way, you’re not the exception. You’re part of a fast-growing group of writers who are figuring out how to make these tools work for them.
How Writers Are Using AI Tools
The most common use cases are all about support — brainstorming, drafting, research, and editing. Here’s what the data shows:
- Brainstorming: 51% of marketers use AI to come up with ideas, angles, or titles.
- Research and fact-checking: 45% use AI to gather stats, summarize sources, or double-check facts.
- Drafting: 45% of marketers use AI to help with first drafts or outlines. For emails, that number jumps to 47%, and it’s 46% for social content and video scripts.
- Editing: Around 20% of marketers use AI to help clean up grammar or improve phrasing.
Most of these folks aren’t hitting publish on AI-written text. HubSpot found that 86% of marketers always revise and edit what AI gives them before sharing it publicly. That’s how it should be — use AI to get moving, but bring your own voice to the finish line.
AI is also starting to play a bigger role in SEO. CMI reports that 31% of B2B marketers use AI to improve search performance — things like finding keywords, writing optimized headlines, and outlining around search intent.
Ethics and Credit: What the AI Writing Stats Show
Now, not everyone is on board. And that’s fair. In a BookBub poll, 84% of authors who don’t use AI said they’re avoiding it for ethical reasons — mostly concerns about how AI is trained and who owns the output.
Writers in the UK are especially clear about this. The Society of Authors found that:
- 94% want to give permission before their work is used to train AI.
- 95% want to be paid if their writing is used.
- 97% think readers deserve to know if content was AI-assisted.
These stats make one thing obvious: using AI in your writing isn’t just about getting the job done faster. It’s also about staying transparent, checking for accuracy, and respecting other people’s work.
AI Writing Stats Around the World
AI adoption isn’t equal everywhere. Some countries are way ahead. Yomu.ai reports that these are the current leaders:
- Singapore: 42.3%
- Estonia: 38.7%
- Israel: 36.9%
- UAE: 35.4%
The U.S. comes in at 32.5%, and the UK at 27.9%. Brazil is around 19.8%, and Nigeria and Kenya are in the mid-teens. Internet access, local education policy, and language support all play a part. Even so, 87% of internet users globally now have access to an AI writing assistant in their own language.
Most writers start with free tools. CMI found that 91% of content creators use free AI platforms like ChatGPT, while only 27% use paid ones. That’s good news for indie authors and hobbyist writers: there’s a low barrier to entry.
To Sum Up: Why AI Writing Stats Matter
If you’ve been waiting to see whether AI tools are here to stay, the writing’s on the wall — and in the stats. Here’s what’s happening:
- 70%+ of marketers and authors are using AI.
- It’s mostly for brainstorming, research, drafting, and editing.
- People edit before they publish.
- Ethical questions are top of mind.
- AI tools are accessible in most languages.
Use AI wisely, and keep your creative voice front and center. These tools aren’t here to replace us — they’re here to help us write smarter.
Data sources:
- HubSpot: How Marketers Are Navigating Content Creation with AI
- Content Marketing Institute: B2B Content Marketing Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends: Outlook for 2024 [Research]
- BookBub: How Authors Are Thinking About AI (Survey of 1,200+ Authors)
- Society of Authors: SoA survey reveals a third of translators and quarter of illustrators losing work to AI
- Yomu.ai: Which Countries Are Using AI Essay Writers the Most? Global Trends Report
