Across community and recreation organizations, from YMCAs and JCCs to parks and rec departments, camps, and afterschool activity providers, expectations are shifting. Families want easier access to information, faster responses, and smoother digital experiences when they interact with programs. At the same time, leaders are navigating growing conversations around artificial intelligence (AI), often without clear guidance on where it realistically fits.
To better understand how these trends intersect, we conducted new research examining both community perspectives and recreation professionals’ attitudes toward AI. What emerged wasn’t a simple mandate to “adopt AI,” but a more nuanced picture of rising expectations, cautious openness, and unanswered questions.
Community members today are accustomed to digital tools that reduce friction in everyday life. That familiarity shapes how they approach recreation organizations — from how they search for programs to how quickly they expect answers.
Our research surfaced early signals that expectations around convenience, responsiveness, and access are continuing to rise. However, those expectations don’t necessarily translate into a desire for fully automated or impersonal experiences. Instead, there’s a tension between wanting things to be easier and still wanting recreation experiences to feel human.
Understanding that tension, and what it means in practice, is one of the central themes explored in the full report.
Among recreation professionals, awareness of AI is already widespread. Many leaders are experimenting informally, while others are observing carefully before taking action. What stands out in the data is not resistance, but intentional caution.
Leaders are asking practical questions. Where could AI realistically reduce administrative workload? What applications feel helpful rather than disruptive? How can technology support staff without distancing them from the communities they serve?
The research points to a shared desire for clarity and real-world guidance, rather than sweeping transformation or rapid adoption.
One of the strongest undercurrents in the research is the importance of trust. Community members expect recreation organizations to be reliable, transparent, and people-centered. Any new technology, including AI, is evaluated through that lens.
This means AI is not viewed as inherently positive or negative. Its value depends on how it is applied and whether it supports clear communication, accessibility, and responsiveness. Understanding where AI could strengthen trust, and where it could create hesitation, is a key theme that emerges when participant and professional perspectives are examined together.
The takeaway from this research is not urgency to adopt AI immediately. It is the need for awareness and informed decision-making.
Community expectations are evolving. AI is already influencing how people interact with information and services. Recreation organizations are navigating how to meet these expectations with a need to be aware resource use and high standards for personal service.
The full State of AI in Recreation research explores these questions in greater depth. It examines where expectations and readiness align, where gaps exist, and how leaders across different types of organizations are approaching AI thoughtfully.
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