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OpenAI is pulling the curtain back on what people are talking to ChatGPT about in a new research paper that acknowledges "little is known" about how large language model (LLM) chatbots are being used.
The 63-page report contains many interesting nuggets, but two points are particularly surprising. First, although most early adopters were men, "more than half of weekly active users" are women as of June 2025, classified by researchers as those with "typically female first names." Still, usage is growing rapidly across genders and even countries. OpenAI claims 700 million users—10% of the global adult population—are now using ChatGPT weekly.
Second, 73% of all chats are not work-related, a sharp increase from 53% a year ago. Personal and professional chats "have grown continuously, but non-work messages have grown faster."
(Credit: OpenAI)The most common conversation topics—"practical guidance," "seeking Information," and "writing"—account for 78% of all conversations." Writing is number one when it comes to work-related tasks. Vibe coding, or asking an AI to generate computer code, represents a somewhat small share of ChatGPT messages at 4.2%. It's possible programmers prefer other tools, such as Claude Code or coding-specific AI agents like Replit.
Self-expression is also a surprisingly low use case, defined as "greetings and chitchat, relationships and personal reflection, [and] games and roleplay." That's good news given the risks we've seen in people developing personal relationships with AI chatbots.
The data comes from a random selection of messages sent to ChatGPT on its consumer plans (not enterprise or education), including ChatGPT Free, Plus, and Pro, between May 2024 and June 2025. The paper's authors say they did not personally read any user messages, but 46% were from those ages 18-25.
The paper's goal is to clarify the chatbot's economic impact. The first co-authors listed are Aaron Chatterji, the chief economist at OpenAI and a professor at Duke University, Tom Cunningham, an economic researcher at OpenAI, and David Deming, a political economist from Harvard. Given the findings that people are not using ChatGPT for their jobs, the paper seeks to find other economic value for the tech.
"Overall, we find that ChatGPT provides economic value through decision support," the report says, later adding: "Our findings suggest that ChatGPT has a broad-based impact on the global economy. The fact that non-work usage is increasing faster suggests that the welfare gains from generative AI usage could be substantial."
Disclosure: Ziff Davis, PCMag's parent company, filed a lawsuit against OpenAI in April 2025, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.