- ChatGPT turns three years old on Sunday, November 30
- Uploading an image to ChatGPT is more popular than creating an image with AI
- The most commonly used ChatGPT task at work is editing and critiquing text.
ChatGPT will turn three years old on Sunday, November 30, and to celebrate, OpenAI has decided to share some statistics it’s been keeping secret about how people use the world’s favorite AI tool.
ChatGPT launched as a fairly unknown “research preview” in 2022 and today is the most popular chatbot on the planet, responding to around 29,000 messages per second.
According to OpenAI, 800 million people use it every week for everything from planning their next road trip to choosing the ripest products in a grocery store.
How we use ChatGPT
But how do we use ChatGPT? According to OpenAI, three-quarters of conversations focus on practical guidance, information seeking, and writing.
For work, typing is the main use case, and most requests ask ChatGPT to modify text. Specifically, that means editing, critiquing, and translating rather than creating new text from scratch.
When it comes to the top six ways people use ChatGPT globally, OpenAI lists them as:
- Uploading an image
- searching the web
- Using a reasoning model
- Generating an image
- Data analysis
- Dictation
Interestingly, “Upload an Image” ranks higher than “Generate an Image.” As with using text at work, people seem to be uploading their own images and asking ChatGPT to enhance them rather than generating entirely new AI content.
UK specific use
If we talk specifically about the United Kingdom, the picture changes slightly. OpenAI lists the main UK uses as:
- Writing, writing or editing communications.
- Practical guidance and practical tips (e.g. cooking, DIY)
- Searching for information
- Health, fitness and beauty tips.
- Learning, mentoring and teaching.
- Coaching and support to achieve personal goals.
- Buy and research products
- Brainstorming, creativity and image generation.
- Coding
- Analysis and calculations.
These results show that people in the UK rely heavily on ChatGPT to complete practical tasks, not just treat it as a novelty. While business applications like coding and analytics are at the bottom of the top 10, they are much less important than general productivity tasks and life management.
Brits clearly see ChatGPT as a low-friction self-improvement tool that fills the gap between Googling and hiring an expert.
As someone who has seen ChatGPT grow from its humble beginnings in 2022 to become a behemoth with 800 million weekly active users just three years later, I think it’s safe to say that we now live in an era where ChatGPT has become ubiquitous.
It has become another utility, something we reach for without a second thought when we need help or advice.
Right now, purchasing is pretty low on the list, but that could change quickly, especially now that OpenAI has launched its own purchasing research tool. If I were Amazon or Google, I’d be paying attention.
The AI bubble may or may not burst, but what seems certain is that tools like ChatGPT have already become part of our daily lives. Whatever the future of artificial intelligence, whether super-powered AGI or not, the low-friction, practical AI helpers that people already rely on aren’t going anywhere.
Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to receive news, reviews and opinions from our experts in your feeds. Be sure to click the Follow button!
And of course you can also follow TechRadar on TikTok for news, reviews, unboxings in video form and receive regular updates from us on WhatsApp also.
The best business laptops for every budget
