The most shocking stat from Adobe this year is “86%”

Adobe’s new generative AI survey claims 86% of creators use the technology — but the fine print tells a different story.

No matter your opinion on whether one needs a Creative Cloud subscription, Adobe is arguably the world’s largest and most influential company for creatives. Its tools have enabled countless artists of all stripes — designers, audio editors, filmmakers, and more — to earn a living.

And on Tuesday, the $151 billion company released a statistic that should shock any artist who ranks their own creations far above what we know as AI slop.

According to an announcement released during its annual Adobe Max conference in Los Angeles, 86% of surveyed content creators say they use generative AI in their work. That’s not a typo. Eighty-six percent. It’s the headline figure in the company’s “Inaugural Adobe Creators’ Toolkit Report.”

“The results … are staggering,” said Mike Polner, Vice President & Head of Product Marketing for Creators at Adobe.

Given the thunderous and consistent outcry by artists against generative AI — from protesting painters in New York City to striking actors in Hollywood — the figure might feel like the admission of a dirty little secret kept by creatives, or maybe it is just the realization that generative AI is here to stay.

There’s a catch

Only social media creators were asked

Credit: Adobe

But if those AI critics dig into Adobe’s survey, tucked away in the methodology, they might be relieved. Remember that Adobe has woven generative AI into many of its programs for the last several years — including some seriously impressive Photoshop integrations announced this week involving Google Gemini. As such, a company like Adobe has real financial incentives to show that generative AI use is widespread — and what’s more, people accept it.

So it makes sense that a survey conducted by Adobe would focus on demographic groups who are open to using generative AI, especially if it boosts content output and juices the number of likes and shares. (The creators were surveyed in September 2025 and are based in the US, the U.K., France, Germany, South Korea, Japan, India, and Australia.)

“Emerging and semi-professional” content creators

The 16,000 Adobe survey respondents were “emerging and semi-professional” content creators who were asked in the survey if they used generative AI to increase engagement on social media platforms. So, no full-time professionals working in creative industry roles were surveyed — one suspects the 86% figure would be significantly lower if they were. For example, take the view of surrealist artist Karl Roberts:

“I can say with 100% certainty that none of my images have or will ever use stock images or AI,” Roberts told My Modern Met this year. “Like I said, I’m a loyalist to my craft, and it’s staying that way.”

To take it one step further, generative AI tools like OpenAI’s video generator Sora are already replacing the influencers of today with digitally created personalities that might fill the social feeds of tomorrow:

76 percent of creators “say creative generative AI is positively shaping the creator economy”

Adobe makes the some downright legendary programs: Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, and Premiere Pro (though there is a great open-source alternative to Premiere Pro out there), among many others, are industry standards. Over the years, all have become iconic in their own right, and they may continue to keep that icon status — if these survey results are an accurate predictor of future adoption.

If the next generation of content creators takes to Adobe programs with generative AI features like past generations took to Adobe Photoshop because of its speed and relative affordability, Adobe has a bright future. To wit, the survey revealed that 76 percent of creators “say creative generative AI is positively shaping the creator economy” and “81 percent say it helps them create content they otherwise couldn’t have made.”

Adobe has long made the tools that professionals use. Still, with this new targeted survey of social media content creators, it’s clear that the company wants to court a new type of artist who might not otherwise use Photoshop on a laptop or Premiere to edit their TikTok videos or Instagram Reels. (Notably, Adobe finally released a mobile app for Photoshop in July.)

That 86% of content creators use generative AI also might speak to the entrepreneurial nature of influencers who have built businesses based on a steady stream of new content, the most valuable of which is video. And those new posts must be frequent enough to ensure platform algorithms reward creators with exposure that generates revenue via subscriptions, ad impressions, or potential endorsements.

Some 55% of content creators surveyed said they used generative AI to upscale, edit, and enhance images and videos. And 52% said they used it to create wholly new images and videos. Also, 48% of respondents said they used generative AI for ideation and brainstorming, which has been credited as a good use of AI by those who are also critical of the technology. (“But whose ‘Aha’ is it?” The New Yorker memorably asks.)

Finally, the survey did reveal something thought-provoking about the future of AI: 60% of respondents said they use more than one generative AI tool in their work. That means only 40% of survey respondents were brand-loyal, and the market is still fairly open.

While the revelation that 86% of content creators use generative AI may immediately raise eyebrows, if you look a little closer, you’ll quickly see that the claim has a few wrinkles around the edges. In that way, it’s kind of like most AI-produced images in that you can detect signs of the slop. But AI art is improving by the minute, and based on current growth rates, that 86% figure is sure to reach 100% for many social media content creators very soon.