WASHINGTON–Are credit union employees using ChatGPT all day to do their work? Not if they’re like most Americans, according to new research, which found a surge in the use of OpenAI’s ChatGPT for non-work purposes.
The research, which was part of what is being called a first-of-its kind study, is the largest look to date at how people use the company’s flagship artificial intelligence (AI) offering.
“The findings show that consumer adoption has broadened beyond early-user groups, shrinking the gender gap in particular; that most conversations focus on everyday tasks like seeking information and practical guidance,” OpenAI wrote on its blog.
Moreover, the study, which is part of a National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) working paper by OpenAI’s Economic Research team and Harvard economist David Deming, found usage is evolving “in ways that create economic value through both personal and professional use,” according to the company.
Increase in Messages
Among the findings in the research is a steady increase in work-related messages, but even faster growth in non-work-related messages, from 53% to more than 70% of all usage.
“We classify messages by conversation topic and find that ‘Practical Guidance,’ ‘Seeking Information,’ and ‘Writing’ are the three most common topics and collectively account for nearly 80% of all conversations,” the study said.
The research found writing was the top work-related task, which the researchers said demonstrates chatbots’ “unique ability” to generate digital outputs compared to the traditional search engine.
“Overall, we find that ChatGPT provides economic value through decision support, which is especially important in knowledge-intensive jobs,” the researchers wrote.
Additional Findings
The research further found:
- Narrowing in ChatGPT’s gender gap, with 52% of users having “typically feminine” names in July of this year, up from 37% in January of 2024.
- “Especially rapid growth” of ChatGPT adoption in low- and middle-income countries. As of May of this year, adoption rates in the lowest income countries were more than four times that of rates in the highest income countries.
