Illustration of the ChatGPT App on the iOS App Store displayed on a phone screen.
Despite rapid adoption of large language models like OpenAI's ChatGPT, few comprehensive studies have delved into exactly how the technology is being used in everyday life — that is, until now.
On Tuesday, researchers, including those from OpenAI, released a first-of-its-kind study that examines who was using ChatGPT and for what purposes based on internal messages sent to ChatGPT on consumer plans.
Amongst the key findings from the National Bureau of Economic Research working paper was the surge in non-work related messages, jumping to 73% in June 2025 from 53% a year ago.
In a post on LinkedIn, OpenAI Chief Economist Aaron Chatterji said that the shift was a signal that ChatGPT is becoming part of many aspects of people's lives.
"We're still learning how people use AI in the wild, but this trend gives us a glimpse into where the value is and how it's shifting," he added.
The study, which has not been formally scrutinized by other researchers, or peer reviewed, was authored by OpenAI's Economic Research team and Harvard economist David Deming, and said to have drawn on "a large-scale, privacy-preserving analysis of 1.5 million conversations."
Here is an outline of some of the most notable revelations: