70% of ChatGPT use isn't work-related, OpenAI reveals
What's the story
OpenAI has released a comprehensive report detailing how people are using its conversational AI tool, ChatGPT. The study is based on an analysis of 1.5 million conversations in the app over the last three years. It highlights key trends and provides insights into user behavior and preferences for this innovative technology.
User growth
Explosive growth in user adoption
The report highlights an exponential growth in ChatGPT's user base, from one million active users in late 2022 to a staggering 700 million weekly active users today. This rapid expansion is no surprise as ChatGPT has become synonymous with AI usage, driving increasing interest in the tool. The data also shows that most (70%) of ChatGPT conversations are not work-related (based on OpenAI's categorization).
Conversation trends
Top conversation topics
The report identifies the top three conversation topics on ChatGPT as practical guidance, seeking information, and writing. These collectively account for about 77% of all conversations. Practical guidance remains constant at roughly 29% of overall usage while writing has declined from 36% in July 2024 to just 24% a year later. Seeking information has grown from 14% to a 24% over the same period.
Usage patterns
Shifts in usage patterns
The report categorizes ChatGPT usage into three main types: asking, doing, and expressing. Asking involves seeking information to make better decisions; doing is getting ChatGPT to perform tasks like writing an email or code; while expressing refers to personal reflection. The data shows that users are increasingly turning to ChatGPT for information seeking rather than task performance over time.