{"ID":2833444,"CreatedAt":"2026-06-01T04:54:23.091178241Z","UpdatedAt":"2026-06-01T04:54:23.091178241Z","DeletedAt":null,"paper_url":"https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.03671","arxiv_id":"2512.03671","title":"Generative AI Practices, Literacy, and Divides: An Empirical Analysis in the Italian Context","abstract":"The rise of generative AI (GenAI) chatbots accessible via conversational interfaces is transforming digital interactions and holds economic promise. However, these tools might deepen existing inequalities -- not only through uneven, socially stratified adoption, but through differentials in their purposeful, critical use. Drawing on original survey data from 1,906 Italian-speaking adults, we provide a comprehensive analysis of GenAI adoption, literacy, and usage patterns. Our findings show that GenAI is supporting diversified personal and professional activities and replacing traditional information-seeking tools. Yet less-educated and older individuals, and those with lower technology familiarity, are less likely to adopt it; 40% cite competence barriers as a key obstacle. Among users, AI training emerges as the primary predictor of purposeful, capital-enhancing engagement -- content creation, learning, and creativity enhancement -- while more passive, recreational uses (e.g., companionship, information seeking) remain insensitive to competence levels. We thus highlight digital literacy as a lever for how people leverage GenAI, not just whether they use it. Finally, gender operates as a persistent cross-cutting divide, shaping both adoption and usage frequency. These findings challenge the assumption that high accessibility translates into broadly shared gains. Rather, they offer a granular, multi-level account of emerging disparities in the GenAI era -- with implications for how this technology may ultimately drive outcomes and benefit divides.","short_abstract":"The rise of generative AI (GenAI) chatbots accessible via conversational interfaces is transforming digital interactions and holds economic promise. However, these tools might deepen existing inequalities -- not only through uneven, socially stratified adoption, but through differentials in their purposeful, critical u...","url_abs":"https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.03671","url_pdf":"https://arxiv.org/pdf/2512.03671v2","authors":"[\"Beatrice Savoldi\",\"Giuseppe Attanasio\",\"Olga Gorodetskaya\",\"Marta Marchiori Manerba\",\"Elisa Bassignana\",\"Silvia Casola\",\"Matteo Negri\",\"Tommaso Caselli\",\"Luisa Bentivogli\",\"Alan Ramponi\",\"Arianna Muti\",\"Nicoletta Balbo\",\"Debora Nozza\"]","published":"2025-12-03T11:01:28Z","proceeding":"cs.CL","tasks":"[\"cs.CL\"]","methods":"[]","has_code":false}