Joshua Miller

We asked drivers about AI. And honestly? At first glance, it looked like a lot of them weren’t very interested in it. Most drivers told us they still skip past Google’s AI-generated search summaries and go straight to the traditional search results.

But the deeper we dug into the data, the more nuanced the story became. Because while many drivers do say they’re skeptical of AI tools… They’re also already interacting with AI every day. They just may not realize it.

In fact, more than a third of drivers said they at least read part of Google’s AI Overview before moving on, and nearly 20% said they continue further into AI mode. And when drivers did report using AI tools directly, the biggest use cases weren’t flashy or futuristic. They were practical. Things like finding places to eat, park, or stop while on the road.

And while current AI usage among drivers still appears fairly limited, the drivers who are using it tend to use it in very practical ways to accomplish their goals faster. Which tells us something important.

When it comes to drivers, AI just for the sake of AI is meaningless.  They’re just looking for ways to make their lives easier. And really… drivers aren’t alone in that.

Stanford’s 2025 AI Index found that two-thirds of people now expect AI-powered products and services to significantly impact daily life in the next few years. And that’s up 6 points from just 2022. But at the same time, Gartner found that more than half of consumers still distrust AI-powered search results and summaries.

So even as AI becomes more prevalent, there’s still hesitation around how people perceive it. And that lines up pretty closely with what we saw in the driver data too.

So with all of that in mind, let’s apply that to the world of driver recruiting. The answer isn’t just slapping “AI-powered” onto everything and hoping drivers respond to it.

The real question is: How are you using it? Are you eliminating friction? Does it help you reduce response time? Does it make communication easier? Are you helping drivers get information faster and move through your process more smoothly?

Because at the end of the day, even if drivers are still a little skeptical of AI, they don’t really care what’s powering the system behind the scenes. They care about whether it helps them get where they want to go faster. And that’s the biggest takeaway in all of this.

The full survey data and results from our driver audience will be available later this month in our full download – Drivers & AI: Separating Fact from Fiction. 

In addition to that, Dave will also be back for another live Digging Deeper discussion where he’ll really get into the details around AI, recruiting, driver perception, and what all of this could mean moving forward. I’ll put a link for that down below. 

I’ll be back with another Recruiting Roundup next month where we’ll get into another great topic – brand perception. Until then, thanks for watching.