How people actually use AI
The most common ways people use AI chatbots and agents, grounded in public research. A usage stat only appears where a source backs it up, with a link to that source. Each use case links to matching tools.
Everyday life
Most chatbot use isn't work at all. In OpenAI's study of 1.5 million conversations, roughly 70% of consumer ChatGPT use was non-work. Source: OpenAI: How people are using ChatGPT (Sep 2025) ↗
Get practical advice and how-tos
Ask for step-by-step help with everyday problems, from fixing things to making decisions.
"Practical Guidance", "Seeking Information" and "Writing" are the three most common ChatGPT topics, together nearly 80% of conversations.
Source: NBER Working Paper 34255: How People Use ChatGPT ↗Learn something new
Have a topic explained in plain English, at your level, with follow-up questions.
26% of U.S. adults say they've used ChatGPT to learn something new (up from 8% in March 2023).
Source: Pew Research Center: 34% of U.S. adults have used ChatGPT (Jun 2025) ↗Just for fun
Chat, play with ideas, write silly stories, or kill time with a curious assistant.
22% of U.S. adults have used ChatGPT for entertainment.
Source: Pew Research Center: 34% of U.S. adults have used ChatGPT (Jun 2025) ↗Plan a trip
Turn dates, budget and interests into a day-by-day itinerary.
Travel itineraries are among the most common personal planning outputs in Claude conversations.
Source: Anthropic Economic Index report: Cadences (Jun 2026) ↗Figure out what to cook
Get recipes from what's in your fridge, or a weekly meal plan.
Recipe requests are 2.3x more frequent at 6 p.m. than average in Claude usage.
Source: Anthropic Economic Index report: Cadences (Jun 2026) ↗Build a workout plan
Get a training schedule that fits your goals, time and equipment.
Workout schedules are among the most common personal planning outputs in Claude conversations.
Source: Anthropic Economic Index report: Cadences (Jun 2026) ↗Make sense of taxes and money
Understand forms, deadlines and budgeting basics (then double-check with a pro).
Tax-related Claude conversations were 8x as common as average on April 14, just before the U.S. filing deadline.
Source: Anthropic Economic Index report: Cadences (Jun 2026) ↗Work
Pew asked U.S. workers who have used AI chatbots at work what they used them for. Writing and research dominate. Source: Pew Research Center: Workers' experience with AI chatbots in their jobs (Feb 2025) ↗
Research a topic
Get a quick, sourced overview before a meeting or decision.
57% of workers who've used AI chatbots at work have used them for research or finding information.
Source: Pew Research Center: Workers' experience with AI chatbots in their jobs (Feb 2025) ↗Edit and polish writing
Tighten an email, fix tone and grammar, or shorten a long doc.
52% of workers who've used AI chatbots at work have used them to edit written content.
Source: Pew Research Center: Workers' experience with AI chatbots in their jobs (Feb 2025) ↗Draft emails, reports and docs
Go from bullet points to a solid first draft in seconds.
47% of workers who've used AI chatbots at work have used them to draft reports, documents or other written content.
Source: Pew Research Center: Workers' experience with AI chatbots in their jobs (Feb 2025) ↗Summarize meetings and documents
Turn a recording or a long PDF into the key points and action items.
40% of workers who've used AI chatbots at work have used them to summarize documents or meetings.
Source: Pew Research Center: Workers' experience with AI chatbots in their jobs (Feb 2025) ↗Brainstorm new ideas
Get a list of angles, names, or solutions to react to.
35% have used AI chatbots at work to come up with new ideas.
Source: Pew Research Center: Workers' experience with AI chatbots in their jobs (Feb 2025) ↗Creators
Creative tools are a big part of what people pay for: a16z finds the top 1% of AI spenders over-index on creative tools like Higgsfield, Figma and HeyGen. Source: a16z: The Top 100 Gen AI Consumer Apps, 7th Edition (Oct 2026) ↗
Make thumbnails and images
Design eye-catching thumbnails, posts and artwork without a designer.
21% of workers who've used AI chatbots at work have used them to create or edit images or videos.
Source: Pew Research Center: Workers' experience with AI chatbots in their jobs (Feb 2025) ↗Write video scripts
Hook, outline and script for Shorts, TikToks or long-form videos.
The work-related share of creative writing in Claude is mostly short-form video scripts, screenwriting and speeches.
Source: Anthropic Economic Index report: Cadences (Jun 2026) ↗AI voiceovers
Narrate videos or dub them into other languages without recording.
ElevenLabs ranks #25 in a16z's top 50 consumer AI web products and #10 in consumer spending.
Source: a16z: The Top 100 Gen AI Consumer Apps, 7th Edition (Oct 2026) ↗Make music
Create intro music, jingles or full songs from a description.
Suno ranks #19 on a16z's consumer AI web traffic list and #7 on spending.
Source: a16z: The Top 100 Gen AI Consumer Apps, 7th Edition (Oct 2026) ↗Turn long videos into shorts
Find the best moments in a stream or video and cut vertical clips.
Coding / vibe coding
Coding is a small share of everyday chatbot use, but it's where power users spend: a16z finds the top 1% of AI spenders disproportionately buy tools for automation and product building. Source: a16z: The Top 100 Gen AI Consumer Apps, 7th Edition (Oct 2026) ↗
Build an app without coding
Describe what you want in plain English and let an AI builder make it.
Vibe-coding tools Lovable, Replit and Base44 all appear on a16z's top consumer AI web list.
Source: a16z: The Top 100 Gen AI Consumer Apps, 7th Edition (Oct 2026) ↗Fix broken code
Paste an error and let an AI agent find and fix the bug.
Fixing broken code was 33% of Claude Code sessions in Oct 2025 and 19% by Apr 2026, as use shifted toward building and running software.
Source: Anthropic: Agentic coding and persistent returns to expertise (Jun 2026) ↗Automate tasks with an AI agent
Have an agent handle repetitive computer work for you.
Coding and technical automation was the most-discussed agent task domain across early user group chats (n = 1,502), per a16z.
Source: a16z: The Top 100 Gen AI Consumer Apps, 7th Edition (Oct 2026) ↗Code without being a programmer
People in non-tech jobs now build their own tools with coding agents.
In code-producing Claude Code sessions, every one of the ten largest occupations landed within seven points of software engineers' success rate.
Source: Anthropic: Agentic coding and persistent returns to expertise (Jun 2026) ↗Gaming
Gamers mostly use AI around the game: capturing clips, cleaning up streams, and even making games of their own.
Edit gameplay clips
Capture your best plays and cut them into shareable clips.
Make your own game
Describe a simple game and let AI build it.
Gaming is one of the Claude Code usage clusters that increases most on weekends.
Source: Anthropic Economic Index report: Cadences (Jun 2026) ↗Clean up your stream
Remove background noise and fix your webcam background.
Sports
For fans, players and coaches. We haven't found solid usage data for sports AI yet, so no popularity claims here.
Follow stats and news
Sourced answers on scores, injuries and player stats.
Film your team's games
An AI camera records games and finds the highlights.
Sources
- OpenAI: How people are using ChatGPT (Sep 2025)
- NBER Working Paper 34255: How People Use ChatGPT
- Pew Research Center: 34% of U.S. adults have used ChatGPT (Jun 2025)
- Pew Research Center: Workers' experience with AI chatbots in their jobs (Feb 2025)
- Anthropic Economic Index report: Cadences (Jun 2026)
- Anthropic: Agentic coding and persistent returns to expertise (Jun 2026)
- a16z: The Top 100 Gen AI Consumer Apps, 7th Edition (Oct 2026)
Figures are as reported by each source; survey and platform samples differ, so compare them with care. Checked Oct 14, 2026.