Portugal's AI Boom: 70% of Adults Have Now Used Generative AI Tools

The Portugal technology market has registered a significant shift in artificial intelligence adoption, with 70% of adults having tried generative AI tools—a leap from 41% just two years ago that positions the country among Europe's most aggressive adopters of the emerging technology.

Why This Matters

• Job displacement concerns: Research indicates that automation will impact employment patterns, with particular pressure on administrative and routine roles.

• Generational adoption gaps: Usage patterns vary significantly by age group, with younger demographics showing higher familiarity with AI tools.

• Gender differences in adoption: Women's engagement with generative AI trails men's, reflecting broader patterns in technology adoption.

• Youth leadership: Younger generations demonstrate stronger comfort with these tools, reshaping education and early-career experiences.

A Generational Technology Divide

The Portugal-based research from Deloitte's Digital Consumer Trends 2025 edition reveals sharp age-based differences in AI familiarity. While 85% of Gen Z respondents reported having used generative AI platforms, only 44% of Baby Boomers have engaged with the technology—a 41-percentage-point gap that reflects broader patterns in digital comfort and technology adoption.

ChatGPT remains the market leader, with strong recognition and usage among Portuguese adults. The OpenAI chatbot has become the most familiar generative AI tool in the local market, much as Google once defined internet search.

Pedro Tavares, who leads the technology, media, and telecommunications practice at Deloitte Portugal, framed the trend as a fundamental shift in how people interact with technology. "The exponential growth of GenAI is driving profound transformation in how people interact with technology," he noted, adding that smartphone ubiquity—99% daily usage rates—has made these tools widely accessible to adults across the country.

What This Means for Residents

For Portugal's workforce, AI adoption carries implications that deserve careful attention. The technology is reshaping how work gets done, with potential benefits for efficiency and new challenges for job transitions. Research from various organizations indicates that automation will create pressures on certain occupational categories while potentially opening opportunities in others.

The European labor market faces ongoing transformation, with shifts expected across skill levels. Portugal, like other EU economies, must navigate questions about workforce retraining, skills development, and ensuring equitable opportunities across demographic groups.

Worker sentiment reflects this complexity. Surveys suggest that many Portuguese employees view AI as potentially creating opportunities, yet simultaneously worry about employment security. The balance between confidence and caution remains unclear, with broader concern about how quickly institutions can adapt.

How the Technology Is Actually Being Used

Based on the Deloitte research, Portuguese adults who have engaged with AI tools report using them for various purposes, including information search, learning support, and writing assistance. The research suggests that workplace exposure often drives initial adoption, after which users explore personal applications.

Portugal shows relatively high trust in engagement with AI-generated content compared to other European markets, which may partially explain why adoption has progressed at a comparatively faster pace.

The Hidden Gender and Training Gaps

Beneath aggregate figures lies a notable gender divide in AI adoption. Research suggests women engage with generative AI at lower rates than men, even when access is equivalent. This pattern appears driven less by technical barriers than by workplace culture and confidence factors—concerns about appearing to rely on shortcuts or lacking rigor when using algorithmic assistance.

The gap extends across skill levels and sectors. In technical roles, women's adoption rates lag behind male colleagues at equivalent levels, a pattern that reflects broader technology sector dynamics.

Algorithmic design itself may reinforce these gaps. Some research indicates that AI systems can embed gender patterns in their recommendations and language use, potentially steering users toward different opportunities based on gender—a concern that warrants continued attention as these tools mature.

Equipment Cycles and Market Maturity

Device replacement patterns suggest the market may be entering a phase of slower hardware turnover. Fewer respondents upgraded equipment recently compared to prior years, likely reflecting both economic factors and the maturation of smartphone technology, where improvements have become incremental.

Smartphones remain the primary digital access point, with usage remaining near-universal. Because cloud-based AI tools require minimal specialized hardware, generative platforms have become broadly accessible—though this accessibility raises data privacy considerations when sensitive information flows through consumer applications.

Privacy concerns represent a real issue globally. Organizations globally report that users worry about potential misuse and data security with AI systems. While these anxieties haven't dramatically reduced Portuguese enthusiasm, regulatory developments—particularly EU AI Act implementation—will likely shape how these services evolve.

Skills, Retraining, and the Road Ahead

The pace of AI adoption is outstripping workforce preparation in many sectors. Skill requirements in positions exposed to AI are evolving rapidly, yet many professionals lack formal training in how to effectively use these tools. The gap between adoption and competency creates real risks, as workers deploy systems they may not fully understand.

Interpersonal skills—communication, creativity, problem-solving—are emerging as increasingly valuable precisely because they're less easily automated. This shift points toward a labor market where technical execution becomes more commoditized and human judgment, empathy, and creative thinking command premium value.

For policymakers and employers, the priorities are clear: retraining infrastructure must expand, with targeted programs for mid-career workers in vulnerable sectors and deliberate attention to removing gender-based adoption barriers. Portugal's relatively strong female representation in STEM education provides a foundation, but translating that into equitable AI fluency requires intentional effort.

The Deloitte study, conducted biennially, captures a moment in a rapidly changing market. With 70% of adults now having engaged with tools that barely existed in practical form five years ago, Portugal's digital transformation is already underway—a present-tense reality that will reshape work, education, and daily life regardless of how proactively individuals and institutions prepare.