All three are real. Here is how small businesses are using AI, and why the numbers do not line up.

Why the numbers differ

• U.S. Census Bureau: Between 17% and 20% of businesses used AI from December 2025 to May 2026.

• NEXT Insurance: 28% of 1,500 small business owners used AI in 2025, down from 42% in 2024.

• U.S. Chamber of Commerce: 58% of small businesses used generative AI in 2025, up from 40% in 2024.

The surveys ask different questions. One owner who uses a chat tool to write one email a month counts as an AI user in some surveys and not in others.

What Hawaiʻi owners say

The U.S. Chamber's 2025 report has a Hawaiʻi page:

• 66% of Hawaiʻi small businesses use an AI platform.

• 42% use a generative AI chatbot.

• 66% believe AI will help their business in the future.

Size makes a difference

The Census data shows a gap by size. 37% of firms with 250 or more employees used AI. Fewer than 20% of firms with four or fewer employees did.

Bigger firms have people whose job is to set up new tools. In a small shop, that person is the owner, after hours.

What small shops use it for

The most common jobs are the ones that repeat every day:

• Answering the phone and taking messages

• Texting back callers who did not get through

• Sending appointment reminders

• Asking for reviews and drafting replies

• Answering the same questions on the website

• Writing emails, posts, and job ads

What this means for you

You are not late. Most small businesses are still trying AI one tool at a time. The owners who get the most out of it pick one daily job and set it up well.