AI study: How do users use ChatGPT?

Updated on 15/09/2025.

The adoption of ChatGPT is reaching a major turning point. The largest study ever conducted on its use by consumers reveals a broad movement of democratization, a marked demographic rebalancing, and concrete economic benefits both professionally and personally. AI is no longer just the preserve of technophiles: it is a key everyday tool for everyone. !

What to remember:

The gap between male and female users has practically disappeared, with adoption now reflecting the adult population as a whole.
Nearly 75% of exchanges are for information search, writing assistance, or solving everyday problems, while programming and artistic creation remain minority activities.
30% of uses are work-related, but the majority (70%) concern private life, illustrating its dual role in improving productivity and well-being.
Growth rates there far exceed those of wealthy countries, evidence of growing accessibility for everyone.

Accelerated democratization and transformed usage

Thestudy conducted by OpenAI and the NBER analysis of nearly 1.5 million conversations, the largest sample ever used to understand everyday AI practice. With about 700 million active users per week, ChatGPT stands as the world’s most popular chatbot, ahead of Gemini and DeepSeek.

One of the main findings is the changing user profile. At the end of 2023, men made up a large majority; but by spring 2025, women accounted for more than half of new users, reflecting massive adoption across the general population… with quite different uses!

Change in users by gender, based on the classification of first names from a sample of 1.1 million ChatGPT accounts.

Percentage difference in messages between users with a typically male first name and a typically female first name.

Uses focused on action and advice

The vast majority of interactions (about 75%) are about concrete tasksusers ask ChatGPT for practical advice, writing help, or information. Writing remains the primary function in a professional context (drafting emails, reports, campaign ideas…), while programming and creative expression remain niche uses.

The evolution of all uses:

The evolution of work-related uses:

Distribution of professional ChatGPT uses by type of usage.

The three main types of behaviors:

'Asking' (49%): using ChatGPT as an advisor to guide choices and improve decision-making.
'Doing' (40%): the actual execution of tasks, whether writing, organizing, or planning.
'Expressing' (11%): uses related to personal expression, reflection, or play.

Doesn't that remind you of search intents?

Change in the share of each user intent.

Value creation becomes central

The concrete economic contribution of ChatGPT is becoming measurable. One third of users employ it at work, especially in high-cognitive-intensity jobs where AI improves productivity and judgement. But much of the value created still escapes traditional statistics like GDP: time savings, easier access to knowledge, support for decision-making.

Furthermore, usage intensifies over time, with cohorts of users increasing their activity as the model evolves and new applications are discovered.

ChatGPT: global adoption driven by lower-income countries

While 20% of Americans use AI intensively on a daily basisOpenAI's study also highlights a strong international adoption dynamic for ChatGPT, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. Access to generative AI is no longer limited to advanced economies: In May 2025, the growth in ChatGPT usage in the least advantaged countries was more than four times higher than that observed in wealthy countries.

Change in the number of active users by GDP decile.

ChatGPT adoption has experienced spectacular growth, but also disproportionately strong growth in low- or middle-income countries (GDP per capita between $10,000 and $40,000).

This phenomenon is explained by the tool's high accessibility, which allows users worldwide to overcome traditional economic barriers. ChatGPT has thus become an essential lever for expanding access to education, information, and professional support, while making everyday life easier in contexts where resources are often limited.

The study emphasizes the universal and inclusive nature of this democratization: the geographic distribution of users is changing rapidlywith AI taking root in regions traditionally less exposed to advanced technology, contributing to closing the global digital divide.

Use that began at work and is expanding into the personal sphere

The mass-adoption effect observed by OpenAI's study highlights ChatGPT's potential to become a fundamental right of access to digital knowledgebecome a right of access regardless of age or social status. Young people remain the heaviest users (nearly 60% of those under 30 in the United States use it), but all demographic groups are advancing, with a notable impact on productivity and an increasingly accepted use within both companies and families.

Among those who self-report their age, about 46% of the messages in our dataset come from users aged 18 to 25.
Work-related messages accounted for about 23% of messages from users under 26, with this proportion increasing with age.
The only exception concerns users who report being 66 or older, of whom only 16% of classified messages are work-related.

The chart below shows the evolution of the proportion of messages related to work by age group. ChatGPT usage has become less work-related over time for users of all ages.