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Briefing Document: Consumer Usage of ChatGPT - Trends, Economic Value, and Evolution

Date: September 15, 2025

Source: Excerpts from "How people are using ChatGPT | OpenAI" (National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) working paper by OpenAI’s Economic Research team and Harvard economist David Deming)

Executive Summary:

This briefing summarizes the key findings from the largest study to date on consumer ChatGPT usage, based on a privacy-preserving analysis of 1.5 million conversations since its launch three years ago. The study highlights the increasing democratization of AI, with shrinking demographic gaps and rapid global adoption. ChatGPT is primarily used for everyday tasks, providing practical guidance, information seeking, and writing support. Crucially, the technology is demonstrating significant economic value creation in both personal and professional contexts, acting as a productivity tool, a decision support system, and a driver of uncaptured value in daily life.

Main Themes and Most Important Ideas/Facts:

1. Democratization of AI and Closing Usage Gaps:

• Shrinking Gender Gap: ChatGPT's early gender disparities have "narrowed dramatically, with adoption resembling the general adult population." By July 2025, the share of users with typically feminine names rose to "more than half (52%)" from 37% in January 2024.
• Global Accessibility and Rapid Growth in Developing Nations: ChatGPT has become a "broadly accessible global tool," with "especially rapid growth in low- and middle-income countries." By May 2025, adoption growth rates in the lowest income countries were "over 4x those in the highest income countries."
• Implication: This widespread adoption reinforces OpenAI's belief that "access to AI should be treated as a basic right—a technology that people can access to unlock their potential and shape their own future."

1. Primary Use Cases: Everyday Tasks and Practical Guidance:

• Focus on Practicality: "Three-quarters of conversations focus on practical guidance, seeking information, and writing."
• Common Work Task: Writing is identified as "the most common work task."
• Niche Activities: Coding and self-expression "remain niche activities."
• Usage Categorization (Asking, Doing, Expressing):Asking (49%): A growing and highly-rated category where "people value ChatGPT most as an advisor rather than only for task completion." This reflects users seeking advice and insights.
• Doing (40%): Task-oriented interactions, including drafting text, planning, or programming, where the model generates outputs or completes practical work. Approximately one-third of "Doing" usage is for work.
• Expressing (11%): Uses involving "personal reflection, exploration, and play."

1. Creation of Economic Value in Both Work and Personal Life:

• Dual Role as Productivity and Value Driver: Approximately 30% of consumer usage is "work-related," and 70% is "non-work," with both categories "continuing to grow over time." This underscores ChatGPT's "dual role as both a productivity tool and a driver of value for consumers in daily life."
• Decision Support and Productivity: ChatGPT "helps improve judgment and productivity, especially in knowledge-intensive jobs." This highlights its role beyond simple task automation, assisting in complex decision-making processes.
• Uncaptured Value: In some cases, ChatGPT is "generating value that traditional measures like GDP fail to capture," suggesting a broader economic impact beyond conventional metrics.
• Deepening Engagement: As users discover benefits, "usage deepens—with user cohorts increasing their activity over time through improved models and new use-case discovery."