Nearly half (47%) of U.S. employees said their organization has integrated artificial intelligence (AI) tools to improve productivity, efficiency, or quality, up from 41% in the first quarter, Gallup reported.

Individual AI use at work also has grown steadily this year. More than half of U.S. workers (52%) now use AI in their role, with 30% using it frequently (a few times a week or more) and 15% utilizing it daily.

Among AI users, the most common uses of AI are writing and editing (51%), search or research (49%), and general assistance or problem-solving (39%). Gallup found AI’s most common workplace role remains knowledge support: helping employees draft, revise, find information, and work through general questions or problems. However, AI is only used for data science or analytics by 18% and presentation or slide deck creation by 17%. Still 68% of employees who use AI for writing and editing said it has improved their productivity.

Gallup found the broader pattern seen in the study is that employees using AI at work most often begin with writing or research applications, while more technical or task-specific applications are associated with the strongest productivity ratings. Among employees using AI for one or two purposes, 45% reported it has had a somewhat or extremely positive impact on their productivity. That grows to 66% among those using it for three or four reasons, to 78% among those using it for five or six purposes, and to 90% among those using it for seven or more purposes.

Gallup believes organizations may get more out of AI when employees are supported in applying it across a wider range of job-relevant tasks, rather than treating it only as a general-purpose writing or search tool.

Wildfires are now the leading source of unhealthy levels of air pollution for pregnant women in the U.S., Reuters reported. Researchers also reported in Frontiers in Environmental Health that wildfire smoke is linked with adverse birth outcomes.

They studied about 64.5 million pregnancies in 48 states from 2003 to 2019, analyzing neighborhood exposure to tiny airborne particles 2.5 micrometers or less in diameter that travel deep into the lungs and bloodstream. Major sources of PM2.5 pollution include vehicle exhaust, industrial emissions, and wildfires.

Prenatal exposure to PM2.5 declined substantially between 2003 and 2019, but wildfire smoke’s contribution more than doubled from about 3.7% to 8.2%. By 2019, wildfire smoke was the main contributor to high-pollution days during U.S. pregnancies. That year, about two-thirds of “exceedance days”—when PM2.5 pollution exceeded 35 micrograms per cubic meter—were due to wildfire air pollution. The burden also falls disproportionately on low-income, rural, and Indigenous communities.

Researchers said healthcare providers in fire-prone regions should include wildfire risk assessment and education in prenatal care, focusing on communities with limited perinatal healthcare infrastructure. Enhanced air quality monitoring, early warning systems, and the distribution of climate adaptation technologies like air filters, masks, and clean air shelters may help reduce wildfire-related PM2.5 burdens.