85% Believe Prompting Will Be a Must-Have Job Skill in the AI Era

Most people think of AI as a tool you just "talk to" — type a question, get an answer. But as more workers bring these tools into their daily routines, it's clear that the difference between a frustrating back-and-forth and a useful answer often comes down to one thing: the prompt.

We asked 1,000+ American workers about AI, and the results show that knowing how to write a good prompt is becoming a core job skill, not just a neat trick. 

From younger generations embracing prompt writing as a vital part of their career toolkit to the boost that even a little training can deliver, it’s clear that good prompting is the secret to working faster, making fewer mistakes, and actually trusting the answers they get.

Key Takeaways

• 85% of Americans across all generations believe AI prompting will be an important job skill within the next five years.
• 63% of Gen Z respondents say strong prompt-writing skills will definitely be a career asset.
• 53% of millennials use AI daily, the highest of any generation.
• Employer-provided AI training increases self-reported AI usage efficiency by 20%.
• Using AI's built-in prompts leads to a 280% increase in answer satisfaction and speed.
• Users who find built-in prompt suggestions helpful are 2× less likely to encounter AI hallucinations (60% vs. 29% of others) — equal to 31 fewer rewrites per 100 prompts.

85% Believe AI Prompting Will Be a Vital Job Skill by 2030

For Gen Z, learning to talk to artificial intelligence is more than a convenience — it's career prep. Nearly two-thirds (63%) of Gen Z respondents say strong prompt-writing skills will definitely be a valuable asset in their career. In fact, only 8% don't see prompt writing as an important skill to have. This puts them well ahead of baby boomers, where only 41% see it as a "definite" career asset (and 12% flat-out say "definitely not").

Across all ages, the consensus is overwhelming: 85% agree that prompt skills will matter within the next five years, hinting that AI literacy is rapidly joining the ranks of fundamental job skills, like knowing how to use email or spreadsheets.

And it turns out, confidence is directly linked to skill. Among those who say their prompting skills are improving, 9 in 10 (91%) see career potential. But for those who feel stuck or frustrated with AI, the enthusiasm craters to 62%. And only 38% of those who expressed frustration with AI see prompt skills as a sure asset.

Millennials Lead in AI Usage

If AI adoption were a competition, millennials would be running laps around the other generations. They're the most likely to fire up ChatGPT or a similar tool daily, with more than half (53%) making it part of their everyday workflow. 

In fact, they outpace every other generation in weekly time spent. Nearly two-thirds of millennials (63%) use AI at least an hour a week, a significantly higher share than Gen Z (52%), Gen X (50%), and boomers (40%). Millennials are also more than twice as likely as Gen Z to rack up 5+ hours spent with AI each week (17% vs. 8%).

That tech-forward mindset shows up in other ways, too. Millennials are 2.3x more likely than others to be early tech adopters. However, that heavy usage comes with trade-offs. 

Millennials report the highest rates of AI hallucinations (23% experiencing them "often" or "very often," compared with 13% for others).

Ultimately, this generation is pushing AI tools the hardest. Millennials are reaping the benefits of speed and capability while also being the earliest to run face-first into the technology's limitations.

31% Receive Employer AI Training — And It Makes a Dramatic Difference

Only about a third of AI users (31%) report that their employer has provided training or resources on how to write effective AI prompts. Another 20% say they haven't received any on-the-job training, but their employers encourage AI use.

But does training actually matter? The numbers say yes. Among employees who receive training, 57% feel they're getting better and more efficient with AI. For those trying to figure it out themselves, that number drops to just 37%.

The gap is even wider for power users. For people spending more than six hours a week with AI, training boosts efficiency rates by 21 percentage points: 77% report improving with training, compared to only 56% of their untrained peers. Even casual users benefit from training, with 51% reporting improvement versus 36% without training.

Built-In Suggestions Cut Prompt Rewrites by a Third

If you've ever stared at a blinking cursor wondering how to phrase your AI request, built-in prompt suggestions — those short, prewritten examples or question starters that appear inside many AI tools — can be a secret weapon. 

Users who find prompt suggestions helpful are 280% more likely to land a satisfactory answer in under two minutes compared to those who find them unhelpful (81% vs. 29%).

Better yet, these users are also more than twice as likely to experience low hallucination rates, with 60% saying they "never" or "rarely" encounter AI hallucinations, versus 29% of users who find prebuilt suggestions unhelpful. This is equivalent to 31 fewer rewrites per 100 prompts.

However, not everyone is taking advantage of these benefits — awareness of prompt suggestions varies by generation. Despite the fact that most AI tools surface prompt suggestions throughout a chat, nearly one in five baby boomers (18%) say they've never come across built-in suggestions at all. Meanwhile, for Gen Z, it's only 3%.

Your Words Matter — Rev Makes Sure They're Captured Right

Anyone can get an answer from AI. But getting the right answer on the first try is what gives you an edge. The difference almost always comes down to the prompt. Across roles and industries, the ability to nail your prompts quickly is emerging as a core job skill, with top performers reporting higher satisfaction rates and fewer errors.

If you want to skip the trial and error, our prebuilt AI prompts can help you write clearer, more targeted requests that get better results faster. They’re built from expert-tested examples — like prompts that summarize sales calls into key takeaways or flag next steps automatically — so you spend less time wrestling with phrasing and more time acting on insights.

Methodology

The survey was conducted by Centiment for Rev. The survey was fielded between July 25 and July 28, 2025. The results are based on 1,038 completed surveys. In order to qualify, respondents were screened to be residents of the United States, over 18 years of age, and have used a prompt to ask AI a question. Data is unweighted, and the margin of error is approximately +/-2% for the overall sample with a 95% confidence level.

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