While artificial intelligence has been a polarizing topic in state and local politics, Floridians appear to have embraced the technology at among the highest rates in the nation.
AI use has spread across Florida at the No. 10 fastest rate, according to a recent report by Microsoft that quantified AI diffusion nationwide.
More than one-third of Floridians — 33.6% — have used generative AI such as Chat GPT, Gemini, Copilot and other AI-assisted technologies. The average rate nationwide is 31.3%.
AI usage in Florida ranges from 40.5% in Broward County to 13.4% in Holmes County, according to Microsoft.
Treasure Coast AI usage rates are lower than the statewide average. AI usage here ranges from 31.9% in St. Lucie County to 27.2% in Martin County and 24.9% in Indian River County.
“I think there’s a lot of areas where AI is going to help give us opportunity,” said Kevin White, one of the Microsoft researchers involved in the study. “I see it here in our day-to-day.”
The Microsoft report analyzed anonymized Microsoft user data to determine the share of each country’s working-age population actively using AI tools, according to its methodology.
“As we do this measurement, what we’re seeing and what we’re observing is people that go to these services, Chat GPT, Gemini, Copilot,” White said. “What we’re not observing is what you’re actually doing with these services, and that’s a little by design.”
Microsoft researchers found a strong correlation of AI adoption in developed economies and “substantial latent demand” in low-income areas.
Florida metropolitan areas have adopted AI technology at among the highest rates in the nation, the report found. Miami is No. 3, Orlando is No. 12 and Tampa is No. 19.
Large, and vocal, swaths of Floridians, meanwhile, have expressed pessimism, fear and opposition to AI technology.
In one viral flashpoint, a commencement speaker at the University of Central Florida was booed when she called AI technology “the next Industrial Revolution.”
Florida residents have opposed development of AI infrastructure, notably hyperscale data centers in Martin, Okeechobee, St. Lucie and other Florida counties.
In Palm Beach County, residents have been outspoken against Project Tango in Loxahatchee.
In Escambia County, residents held protests against preliminary negotiations for a small data center in the northern part of the county. And in nearby Santa Rosa County, residents proactively pushed back against any data centers in the area.
In Polk County, Lakeland and Fort Meade residents have vehemently opposed local data center projects.
Florida is No. 10 in the nation for data center development, according to a World Resource Institute report. There are about 4,000 data centers nationwide, with 107 in Florida, the 2026 report found.
Jack Randall is TCPalm’s economy and real estate reporter. You can reach him at jack.randall@tcpalm.com.
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Floridians are embracing AI usage but remain wary of data centers
Reporting by Jack Randall, Treasure Coast Newspapers / Treasure Coast Newspapers
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Jack Randall, Treasure Coast Newspapers | USA TODAY Network
