How people are really using Gen AI now

I read this report from Marc Zao Sanders titled “How People are Really Using Generative AI now.” This is his second edition and here are the top 10 use-cases with last year’s rank in brackets.

  1. Therapy/companionship (#2 last year)
  2. Organize my life – creating to do lists/shopping lists (Not in last year’s list)
  3. Find purpose – identifying meaningful goals, insights based on personal value (Not in last year’s list)
  4. Enhance learning (#8 last year)
  5. Generate code (#47)
  6. Generate ideas (#1)
  7. Fun and nonsense (#6)
  8. Improve code (#19)
  9. Creativity (#27)
  10. Healthier living (#75)

It was also interesting to see use-cases that were high last year that aren’t high this year. E.g. –

  • Specific search (#3 to #13 this year)
  • Troubleshoot (#7 to #16)
  • Personalize learning (#9 to #17)
  • Edit text/copy (#4 to #45)
  • Draft emails (#11 to #46)
  • Write/edit resume (#13 to #67)

I’m sure every report has its own biases. But I do appreciate a case like this with a consistent methodology year over year.

The biggest reflection I had from seeing the list is how Gen AI use-cases are moving upstream from more tactical (editing text, drafting emails, specific search) to more strategic (therapy, find purpose, etc.). That’s just a mark of how quickly these models are getting better.

As AI takes on a more intimate role, it is hard to escape the thought that we are getting into the realm of dystopian science fiction. That’s aside from all the big questions about how society will be structured a decade from now.

No answers, just observations and questions.

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