The 10 most common ways people use AI
Hundreds of millions of people use AI every week, mostly for everyday life rather than work. Here’s what they ask it, with an idea to try for each.
Video transcript
Hundreds of millions of people use AI every week. So what do they actually ask it? Here are the ten most common uses.
ChatGPT alone had about 700 million weekly users by July 2025, roughly one in ten adults on the planet. And 73 per cent of their messages weren’t about work.
A big study sorted those messages by topic. Practical advice came top, followed by looking things up and writing. Together they made up about three quarters. Coding was only a small slice.
Here’s our top ten. Getting advice and how-tos. Looking things up. Writing and editing. Learning something new. And planning, from a weekend away to the weekly shop.
Then summarising long documents, brainstorming ideas, making images, help with code and spreadsheet formulas, and translating, from a foreign letter to your holiday phrases.
The trick is to ask the way you’d ask a helpful friend: plainly, with your real situation, and with follow-up questions when you need more.
One thing to remember. AI can sound sure of itself and still be wrong, so check facts, figures and anything about your health, money or the law.
Choose one idea and try it on something real this week. All ten are in the full guide below, each with something to try.
In 30 seconds
- ChatGPT alone had about 700 million weekly users by July 2025, and most messages weren’t about work.
- Practical advice, looking things up and writing make up about three quarters of what people ask.
- Pick one idea from the list and try it on something real this week.
Right now, someone is asking AI how to get candle wax out of a carpet. Someone else wants a kind way to turn down a wedding invitation, and someone is checking what the code on their payslip means. Add up millions of moments like these and you get a picture of how people really use AI.
weekly users of ChatGPT by July 2025, or about one in ten of the world’s adults.
Source: National Bureau of Economic Research, How People Use ChatGPT, September 2025And most of it isn’t work. In June 2025, 73% of messages to ChatGPT weren’t work-related, up from 53% a year earlier.
What people actually ask
Those figures come from a large study of how people use ChatGPT, published in September 2025. The researchers sorted a sample of messages by topic. Three topics made up about three quarters of them.
Practical guidance, seeking information and writing make up about three quarters of messages
Share of messages, June 2025Figures are rounded. The remaining messages were about other things, or their topic was unclear. Source: National Bureau of Economic Research, September 2025
Practical guidance means advice and how-tos, from fixing a dripping tap to planning a workout. And coding, which gets so much attention, was only about 4% of messages.
The top 10, with an idea to try for each
The chart shows the study’s broad topics. The list below is our own guide, drawn from those findings: ten everyday uses, each with something to try.
- Advice and how-tos. Try: “How do I bleed a radiator? Talk me through it step by step.”
- Looking things up. Ask the way you’d ask a friend: “Why does bread go stale faster in the fridge?”
- Writing and editing. Paste in a draft and ask for it shorter, friendlier or clearer, without changing what it says.
- Learning something new. Ask it to explain a topic at your level, then quiz you. See AI as a tutor.
- Planning. Trips, meals and schedules: give it the details, such as a weekend in York with a toddler and no car, and ask for a plan.
- Summarising long things. Paste in a long report or newsletter and ask for the five points that matter to you.
- Brainstorming. Ask for twenty quiz-night themes or names for a book club, then build on the best.
- Making images. Some assistants can create a picture from a description, such as an invitation to a summer barbecue.
- Coding and spreadsheets. Ask for the formula you need, such as adding up column C only where column D says “paid”.
- Translating. Get the gist of a letter in another language, or practise phrases before a holiday.
Get better answers from any of them
Whichever you try, the same habits help. Say what you want and who it’s for, give real detail, and ask follow-up questions. What you type is called a Jargon busterPrompt: What you type or say to an AI to tell it what you want., and our guide to writing a good prompt has more.
I’m fairly new to AI. Here’s what a normal week looks like for me: [a few lines about your work, home life and hobbies]. Suggest the three everyday jobs where you could help me most, with an example of what I could type for each.
Talk me through how to [task, e.g. bleed a radiator], step by step. First ask me what tools and experience I have. Tell me if any part is a job for a professional.
Check yourself
3 quick questions nothing is savedTools in this guide
Sources (1)
- How People Use ChatGPTNational Bureau of Economic Research, September 2025
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