Most people are using ChatGPT to ask questions and get advice, new data from its developer OpenAI has revealed.
Although AI bots can do anything from coding to drafting emails or even helping users to imagine and play, around 49% of the requests sent to ChatGPT since November 2022 were people asking the bot questions and looking for information.
The report by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) and OpenAI is the biggest study of its kind and draws from the huge amount of data collected by OpenAI – around 10% of the world’s population is now thought to use the AI tool.
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Although there was a steady growth in people using ChatGPT for work-related queries, more than 70% of all usage was non-work related, according to the report.
There’s also been a shift in who is using AI tools.
Early adopters of AI tended to be men, with around 80% of weekly users having typically masculine first names in the months after ChatGPT was released.
By June 2025, however, users were more likely to have typically female first names, something the authors described as a “dramatic shift”.
Anthropic AI, which runs the Claude AI chatbot, also released its own data on how customers are using AI.
It found that the use of AI strongly correlated with average incomes.
More affluent nations like Singapore and Canada were at the top end of countries using AI, while emerging economies like Indonesia, India and Nigeria, used Claude less.
In the US, economic differences even played out at state level, and Claude researchers found that adoption of the technology rose faster with income.
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Each 1% increase in state GDP was associated with a 1.8% increase in usage of AI.
Usage also reflected what those areas were best known for; in California, Claude was often used to help with IT problems, in Florida, it was used for financial services and in Washington DC it was used for document editing and career assistance.
AI literacy consultant Sarah J Lundrigan posted about the two reports, saying the “blunt truth” is: “If you’re still treating AI as ‘something to try later,’ you’re behind.
“The value isn’t in futuristic features – it’s in solving today’s friction points.
“The winners will be the ones who can simplify adoption, reduce overwhelm, and make AI part of how people work and live.”
