OpenAI Study Shows 70% of ChatGPT Use is Personal, Not Work-Related

OpenAI’s latest research has shed light on how people really use ChatGPT, and the findings may surprise you. Despite its popularity as a productivity tool, a majority of users are turning to the AI chatbot for personal purposes rather than work-related tasks, signaling a major shift in how artificial intelligence is becoming a part of daily life.

The study, published as a National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) working paper, was conducted by OpenAI’s Economic Research team in collaboration with Harvard economist David Deming. It analyzed a massive dataset of 1.5 million anonymized conversations from users worldwide, uncovering patterns that reveal how the technology is evolving from a niche productivity assistant into a universal companion.

ChatGPT as a Personal Assistant

The report found that 70% of all interactions with ChatGPT have nothing to do with work. Instead, users engage the chatbot for personal tasks such as practical guidance, decision-making support, and general information seeking. People use the tool to draft personal messages, improve their writing, and explore everyday questions, from health and finance to relationships and travel plans.

Work-related usage accounted for just 30% of conversations, and even within that group, writing dominated the requests. The report highlighted that 42% of workplace-related prompts were tied to writing, whether drafting emails, preparing reports, or editing documents, with most users relying on ChatGPT to refine existing drafts rather than create entirely new material. This suggests that professionals view the AI as a collaborator or co-editor rather than a replacement for their own voice.

Interestingly, niche use cases such as coding and self-reflection made up a very small share of the dataset, with coding representing only 4.2% of total queries and self-reflection tasks just 1.9%. This finding contradicts the perception that ChatGPT is primarily a developer tool and reinforces its role as a consumer-oriented platform for knowledge and productivity support.

Growing Global and Gender-Inclusive Adoption

Another major insight from the study is the broadening reach of ChatGPT across demographics and geographies. In early 2024, just 37% of users had typically feminine names, but by mid-2025, that number had grown to 52%, signaling a significant closing of the gender gap in AI adoption.

The report also noted that usage growth has been especially strong in low- and middle-income countries, with adoption rates more than four times higher than those seen in wealthier regions. This rapid expansion suggests that AI is becoming a democratizing tool, providing access to information, education, and problem-solving support for communities that have traditionally been underserved by technology.

According to OpenAI, these trends show that consumer adoption has expanded far beyond the early tech-savvy user base. AI tools like ChatGPT are now being woven into the fabric of everyday decision-making, helping people solve problems both big and small. The company stated that the data reflects “an evolution in how people use AI, shifting from purely professional productivity to a balance of personal enrichment, guidance, and creativity.”

The findings come on the heels of a milestone summer for OpenAI. In August, the company announced that ChatGPT had surpassed 700 million weekly active users, with over 2.5 billion daily messages exchanged, roughly 29,000 per second. This surge coincided with the launch of GPT-5, OpenAI’s most advanced AI model yet.

Touted as the company’s “smartest, fastest, most useful model,” GPT-5 is being adopted by major organizations across sectors and is expected to drive even more engagement in the months ahead. The model offers improved reasoning, faster response times, and better structured thinking, features that could expand ChatGPT’s appeal for both personal and professional use.

As AI adoption accelerates, studies like this provide crucial insight into how technology is shaping human behavior. For OpenAI, the takeaway is clear: ChatGPT is no longer just a workplace assistant; it is becoming a global companion, a tool people trust to guide their decisions, improve their communication, and even help them navigate daily life.