LO
Worker adoptionCognitive automation2025-12-09
More than half of US psychologists used AI tools at least once in the past year, up from 29% in 2024, mostly for emails and notes, the American Psychological Association reported
Psychologistoccupation page →
Event date / reported
2025-12-09
Evidence stage
Worker adoptionMeasured, large-scale use of a tool for real work, where the decision to use it was the worker's rather than an employer's. It is more than a capability record — the work is real, not a demo — and less than a deployment record, because no employer put it into production, required it, or built a process around it. Weighted `cautious`: `automating` means the machine can do the task AND there are adoption signs, and this is an adoption sign — but usage can be experimental, and much of the measurement comes from a party with a stake, so one record is never enough and two independent ones are. Note who is counting. Vendor telemetry sees this directly and sells the tool, so such a record names that stake in its scope; a statistics agency asking firms whether their workers use AI in tasks sees the same channel with no stake at all, and that is the better source where it exists.
Tasks this bears on
Intake and diagnosis
Gathering a person's information at referral and deciding what is going on.
Being augmented✓ Evidence-backed
Psychotherapy
Treating a person over a course of sessions and deciding when the plan has to change.
Still human-led✓ Evidence-backed
Notes, letters and paperwork
Clinical notes, summaries, emails and the forms insurers and services require.
Being augmented✓ Evidence-backed
Where this applies
United States. APA's annual practitioner survey, completed by 1,742 psychologists in September 2025 from a probability-based random sample, found 56% had used AI tools to assist with their work at least once in the past 12 months (29% in 2024) and 29% at least monthly. Among users, the most common uses were writing emails and other materials (52%), generating content (33%), summarising clinical notes or articles (32%) and note-taking (22%); 8% used AI to assist with clinical diagnosis and 5% chatbot assistance for patients. 38% worried AI may make some of their duties obsolete. Self-reported use; it does not measure outcomes.
What this means
Psychologists are adopting AI quickly, but for paperwork: the clinical core — diagnosis and therapy — is where they use it least.
What it does not yet show
Self-reported use in one country's survey; it does not show time saved, quality, or effects on jobs.
What you can check
Open APA's release "Among psychologists, AI use is up, but so are concerns" and find "up from 29% in 2024".
Does it change the assessment?
No. The impact index is never moved by a single event. Nor did this record change a layer: all 3 linked judgements above already rested on earlier evidence. This one adds to them.
Source
American Psychological Association — news release on the 2025 Practitioner Pulse Survey (posted by APA on EurekAlert, 9-Dec-2025) · verified 2026-09-30 · Claude (VOLO agent) · interpreted 2026-09-30 · Claude (VOLO agent)
Primary source — published by the party that did this, or the authority of record. No co-signature needed.
This record is cited in