More than one in four Irish adults has bought a product or service after using artificial intelligence to research the purchase, according to new research from Wolfgang Digital.
The study, carried out by Amárach Research among 1,000 Irish adults, found that 69% now use at least one AI tool, while 46% have used AI to research, compare or choose a product or service.
Of those who used AI as part of the purchase process, 56% subsequently bought the product or service, equivalent to 26% of the adult population.
However, the research also points to a significant trust gap when it comes to so-called agentic commerce, with 63% of respondents saying they would be uncomfortable allowing an AI assistant to make a purchase on their behalf.
Almost half, or 46%, said they would be “very uncomfortable”, while just 19% said they would be comfortable allowing AI to complete a purchase based on criteria they had set.
“Irish consumers have worked out very quickly that AI is useful for figuring out what to buy and who to buy it from,” said Brendan Almack, managing director of Wolfgang Digital.
“What they have not done is confuse that with trusting it to spend their money. AI is helping us shop, but we are not yet willing to give it control of our wallets.”
He said the gap between using AI for product research and allowing it to transact was particularly significant as technology companies develop new AI-powered shopping and purchasing tools.
“That gap is the most interesting finding in this research, and it is a problem for the agentic commerce products the major technology platforms are currently racing to launch. The technology is arriving considerably faster than the consumer trust it depends on,” he said.
Education and learning and travel, including flights, hotels and activities, were the most common categories researched using AI, both cited by 38% of users.
Electronics and gadgets followed on 35%, with health and beauty on 30%, recipes on 28% and DIY on 27%.
The research also revealed that there was a pronounced gender difference in the health and beauty category, with 46% of women saying they had used AI to research products in the sector compared with 16% of men.
According to the research, AI is also being used for higher-consideration purchases, with 21% citing finance and insurance, 19% mobile and telecoms and 14% automotive.
The research suggests AI is also becoming an increasingly important brand discovery channel.
Some 26% of Irish adults said an AI tool had recommended a brand, product or retailer they had not previously heard of, rising to 43% among 18 to 24-year-olds.
“One in four Irish adults have now been introduced to a brand by a machine,” Almack said.
“Brand discovery has moved from ads to algorithms to machines inside a generation, and each step has been quieter than the one before. An ad announces itself. An algorithm at least shows you a list. A machine just hands you an answer,” he adds.
The research shows that Google remains the main starting point for product research, with 59% of Irish adults saying they generally begin their search there. However, there are signs of a generational change with 34% of those aged between 18-24 saying they start with Google while 20% begin with an AI tool.
“Google remains the front door for most Irish shoppers, and that is not changing this year,” Almack said. “But the youngest cohort is behaving differently enough to be worth watching.”
ChatGPT is currently the most widely used AI service, used by 55% of Irish adults, according to the research. The research shows that Gemini is used by 28%, Copilot by 15% and Claude by 10%.
However, the market is becoming more fragmented, with 38% of AI users saying the tool they use most often is something “other” than ChatGPT.
AI usage is also becoming habitual, the research noted. Around 60% of AI users access their preferred tool at least several times a week, while 30% use it daily. Daily usage rises to 39% among people aged under 35.
Adoption rates vary sharply by age, with 92% of 18 to 24-year-olds using AI tools, compared with 78% of those aged 35 to 44, 58% of 55 to 64-year-olds and 42% of people aged over 65.
Usage is also higher among ABC1 consumers, at 76%, compared with 61% among C2DE consumers.
Wolfgang Digital said the findings come against the backdrop of OECD data, collected in Ireland by the Central Statistics Office, which ranked Ireland third among 38 countries surveyed for self-reported understanding of AI.
Some 56% of Irish respondents said they could explain what artificial intelligence means to another person.
“We are among the most AI-literate populations in the developed world and simultaneously one of the more cautious about letting it act for us,” Almack said.
“Those two things are not a contradiction. They are what informed consumers look like.”
The Wolfgang Digital research was conducted online by Amárach Research among a nationally representative sample of 1,000 Irish adults aged 18 and over, with quotas applied for gender, age, social class and region. Fieldwork was carried out between July 28 and August 4, 2026.
