New York, United States – 28 August, 2026 – New survey data indicates that accuracy and reliability, not expanded features or capabilities, are the top priority for Americans when choosing an AI tool, according to a recent State of AI report by Lorka AI, a survey of 1,000 US adults conducted with OnePoll.
When asked what matters most when choosing an AI tool, 48% of respondents ranked accuracy or reliability of responses as the top consideration. This was followed by ease of use (40%), data privacy (35%), price (26%), brand trust (25%), and available features (24%).
Reliability Concerns Are Supported by Independent Research
Findings from other research organizations support the relevance of these concerns. A review compiled by Teaching & Learning Technologies group of MIT Sloan cites Stanford HAI findings that general-purpose AI chatbots hallucinated on more than half of legal research queries in earlier testing rounds, and that purpose-built legal AI tools designed to ground answers in verified documents still produced incorrect information on roughly one in six queries.
The Lorka survey also found that 33% of respondents reported using AI for health or wellness information, making it the third most common use case overall, behind research/learning and writing or editing.
User Sentiment on Value and Trust
Among survey respondents who pay for an AI subscription, 67% said they feel they get good value for what they spend. However, 15% said they feel they pay too much, and 14% said they suspect they could be getting more value from their subscription than they currently receive.
Among respondents who have not adopted AI tools, 21% cited not knowing enough to get started as their primary reason, while 20% cited privacy or security concerns. Fifteen percent said they don’t see the value in AI tools, and cost was rarely cited as a barrier.
The Federal Trade Commission has previously issued guidance warning companies against overstating the reliable capabilities of their AI products, noting that AI-related marketing claims should be backed by demonstrated performance.
User Experience Levels
The Lorka survey found that most respondents who use AI at least infrequently describe themselves as beginner or intermediate users, with a smaller share identifying as advanced or power users. The survey did not test respondents’ ability to identify incorrect AI-generated answers.
Industry Response
According to the report, some AI providers have introduced features such as citation links, confidence flags, and retrieval grounding intended to address reliability concerns. Adoption of these features varies across the market, and many consumer-facing products continue to default to an unhedged tone regardless of the underlying confidence level of a given response.
The full findings on tool-selection priorities, usage patterns, and user sentiment are available in Lorka AI’s State of AI 2026 report.
About Lorka AI
Lorka AI is an all-in-one AI platform that provides access to multiple chat models and productivity tools designed to help professionals streamline workflows, research, and content creation.
Media ContactCompany Name: Lorka AIContact Person: Chris LeeEmail: Send EmailState: New YorkCountry: United StatesWebsite: https://www.lorka.ai/
