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New 2026 survey · Nendo × LOOKA
Tool abundance. Hidden intimacy. Uneven advantage.
We asked 1,161 people online, across 18 Kenyan counties, how they use AI: for work and study, for money and health, and for the things they haven’t told anyone else. Play the story, find your player, then download the full report.
A game-style retelling with seven characters built from the findings. Press start, or use the controls to jump between chapters.
Prefer to read? Everything in the story is on this page, starting with the headline numbers. On a phone, tap full screen and turn your phone sideways.
1,161
people in 18 counties told us they use AI tools
87.8%
use AI daily or several times a week
91.2%
say AI made them more effective in work or study
72%
have used AI for emotional support or a personal situation
Online, AI-aware sample: 1,161 people in 18 counties (1,200 respondents overall). Fieldwork by LOOKA, . Figures are self-reported.
One-minute game
Six quick questions. After each one, see how the 1,161 people in the survey answered. Your answers stay on this device.
Finding 1
Kenyans rarely stumble into AI. Only 2.5% report accidental use.
52.8%
use AI every day
78.6%
used two or more AI tools in the past 30 days
34.9%
use four or more
Used in the past 30 days. Awareness: ChatGPT 93%, Meta AI 80%, Gemini 78%, Grok 50%, Copilot 47%, Claude 43%, DeepSeek 42%.
Used together in the past 30 days. Tools overlap; these are not exclusive choices.
ChatGPT anchors the toolbox. Meta AI wins through embedded access in WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook. The rest compete for specific occasions.
A phone gives you a companion. A computer gives you a coworker.
People who use AI on a smartphone and a computer, compared with smartphone-only users:
+22 pts
daily use (63.5% vs 41.1%)
+30 pts
professional use (72.5% vs 42.8%)
2.7×
as likely to use four or more tools (50.2% vs 18.3%)
Finding 2
Then it gets personal: health, translation, emotional support, everyday life.
72%
have used AI for emotional support or a personal situation
46.3%
use AI for things they haven’t told others about
Mostly or completely trust AI advice. Trust is not verified accuracy.
Trust goes beyond accuracy.
The more personal AI becomes, the more trust matters.
Finding 3
91.2%
say AI made them more effective in work or study
39.2%
effective + worried about jobs/income
52%
effective + not worried
The contradiction is the story.
72%
would use AI more with better Kenyan cultural and language fit
25.1%
have received advice that felt culturally wrong
Local means context. Local means culture.
Local is knowing the difference between Kenya and a stereotype.
Want all 66 slides?
Character select
Seven illustrative archetypes built from the findings. They are not measured segments of Kenyans; each one carries a real number from the survey.
The Grinder · Daily Warrior
52.8% use AI every day
Special move: Morning Prompt Combo. Weakness: Autopilot.
“Creating my cover letter. Writing a research paper. Designing a business plan.”
The Juggler · Toolbox Mage
78.6% use two or more tools; 34.9% use four or more
Special move: Tool Switch Chain. Weakness: No single tool sees the whole story.
“Writing meeting minutes. Find a holiday homes. Getting emotional support.”
The Scholar · Sage
77.3% use AI for research & information
Special move: Lesson Plan Summon. Weakness: Trusting the first answer.
“To help in my school study assignments…translating from English to Japanese…write my lesson plans for teaching practice.”
The Hustler · Merchant
58.6% use AI for professional work
Special move: Business Plan Blitz. Weakness: Advice that doesn’t know the local market.
“Building my business…researching business ideas…getting financial advice…”
The Night Confidant · Moonlight Listener
72% have used AI for emotional support or a personal situation
Special move: 3 AM Heart-to-Heart. Weakness: Trust without guardrails.
The more personal AI becomes, the more trust matters.
The Worried Achiever · Paladin
91.2% say AI made them more effective; 39.2% are more effective and worried about jobs or income
Special move: Deadline Crusher. Weakness: The three-year question.
The contradiction is the story.
The Sheng Seeker · Bard
72% would use AI more with better Kenyan cultural and language fit
Special move: Sheng Flow. Weakness: AI that speaks English but not Kenyan.
Local means context. Local means culture.
The framework
Level 1
Devices, connectivity, messaging, AI availability
1,161of 1,200 online respondents use AI tools
Level 2
Frequency, tool adoption, experimentation
87.8%daily or weekly
Level 3
Professional capability, learning, income, decision quality, productivity
91.2%say they are more effective
Level 4 · locked
Better outcomes, economic opportunity, confidence, mobility
Use it wellis the key
Nendo’s framework, not a survey index. The survey measured access and use; capability and advantage need testing on real tasks.
Access is the starting point. The real divide is what people can do with AI.
The opportunity is not simply to get more people using AI. It is to help more people use it well.
Choose your guild
QuestReach → deeper workflows
QuestAccess → performance
QuestLearning → livelihood
QuestInnovation → safety
Free download
How Kenyans Use AI, published by Nendo with fieldwork by LOOKA. Tell us who you are and the 66-slide report is yours.
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In Nendo’s online survey of 1,161 AI users across 18 counties, 52.8% said they use AI every day and 87.8% use it daily or several times a week. Fieldwork was by LOOKA in May 2026.
ChatGPT leads: 93% know it and 85% used it in the past 30 days. Then come Meta AI (80% aware, 67% used), Google Gemini (78%, 58%), Grok (50%, 32%), Claude (43%, 24%), Microsoft Copilot (47%, 20%) and DeepSeek (42%, 19%). Most people mix tools: 78.6% used two or more in the past 30 days.
Research and information (77.3%), education (67%) and professional work (58.6%) lead. Then it gets personal: 72% have used AI for emotional support or a personal situation, and 46.3% use it for things they haven’t told others about.
72% of the 1,161 AI users surveyed have used AI for emotional support or a personal situation, and 46.3% use it for things they haven’t told others about. The question asked about “emotional support or a personal situation”, so it is not a therapy measure.
It depends on the topic. 58% mostly or completely trust AI advice on careers, 56% on legal questions, 54% on financial matters, 50% on health and 40% on family matters.
34.9% rate AI’s Kiswahili or Sheng responses very good or excellent, and about 35.8% rate them fair or poor. 25.1% have received advice that felt culturally wrong, and 72% would use AI more with better Kenyan cultural and language fit.
91.2% say AI has made them more effective in their work or study. Yet 39.2% are both more effective and worried about their jobs or income, while 52% are more effective and not worried.
Yes. Compared with smartphone-only users, people who use AI on a smartphone and a computer are more likely to use it daily (63.5% vs 41.1%) and for professional work (72.5% vs 42.8%), and 2.7 times as likely to use four or more tools (50.2% vs 18.3%).
LOOKA ran an online survey of 1,200 AI-aware respondents in 18 Kenyan counties in May 2026, and 1,161 completed the detailed AI module. Nendo analysed and published the results. Figures are self-reported and describe this sample, not every Kenyan.
How Kenyans Use AI is a 66-slide report published by Nendo, with fieldwork by LOOKA in May 2026. It covers how often people use AI, which tools they combine, the personal side of AI, language and culture, and what platforms, employers, educators, funders and policymakers can do next. You can download it free from this page.
Online, AI-aware sample: 1,200 respondents, of whom 1,161 completed the detailed AI module, across 18 Kenyan counties. Fieldwork by LOOKA, ; published by Nendo. Figures are self-reported and describe this sample, not all Kenyans. The seven players are illustrative archetypes built from the findings, not measured segments. Respondent quotes are reproduced as they appear in the report.
