Another data point: my generally tech savvy teenage daughter (17) says that her friends are only aware of AI having been available for last year (3 actually), and basically only use it via Snaphhat "My AI" (which is powered by OpenAI) as a homework helper.

I get the impression that most non-techies have either never tried "AI", or regard it as Google (search) on steroids for answering questions.

Maybe more related to his (sad but true) senility rather than lack of interest, but I was a bit shocked to see the physicist Roger Penrose interviewed recently by Curt Jaimungal, and when asked if he had tried LLMs/ChatGPT assumed the conversation was about the "stupid lady" (his words) ELIZA (fake chatbot from the 60's), evidentially never having even heard of LLMs!

My mom does. She's almost 60. She asks for recipes and facts, asks about random illnesses, asks it why she's feeling sad, asks it how to talk to her friend with terminal cancer.

I didn't tell her to download the app, nor she is a tech-y person, she just did on her own.