How 5000 consumers across the globe use AI for everyday tasks

January 15, 2026

10 mins

How 5000 consumers across the globe use AI for everyday tasks

We asked 5000 consumers how they're using AI—and how they feel about it. Read on for the full report and watch the video highlights below.

Introduction

AI has become part of daily life for billions of consumers across the globe.

What are consumers actually using AI for? How do they feel about it? What do they wish that AI could do that it can't currently?

We ran a survey 5000 people to explore these questions, collecting quantitative data as well as detailed videos to hear people's thoughts and feelings about AI.

What we learned

Personal AI use has become habitual

Across all 13 markets we surveyed, most consumers use AI for personal tasks on a daily basis, becoming an integral part of their routine.

Practical, repeatable tasks drive adoption

Consumers rely on AI for informational tasks like learning and health advice, while the most time-consuming tasks like home maintenance lag behind.

Most consumers use multiple AI tools

While ChatGPT dominates usage, many consumers are building personal "AI toolkits" and actively switch between multiple tools based on task and context.

Workplace exposure shapes personal AI use

People in digital industries use AI more at home, while those in hands-on fields show lower adoption both at work and personally.

Accuracy and privacy are top concerns

The vast majority of users cite these as top barriers, with many pointing to AI hallucinations and uneasiness around sensitive topics.

Consumers want more humanlike, personalized AI

Users expect AI to remember context, learn preferences, and feel more natural in conversation.

Methodology

Our study included N=4814 consumers in 13 different markets, ages 18-54. Respondents were recruited via User Interviews and screened for previous AI usage. We used Voicepanel to automatically collect video responses, translate transcripts, perform thematic analysis and generate highlight reels. All respondents consented to their select highlight clips being included in a public report. For further details, see our full methodology.

Personal AI use has become habitual

Consumers aren't just using AI at work—they're using it daily for personal tasks, and this pattern holds universally across all markets we surveyed.

Frequency of AI usage for personal (non-work) tasks

How often people use AI for personal tasks (census-weighted, 18–54)

Q: How often do you use AI tools (e.g. ChatGPT, Gemini) for personal (not work related) tasks?N=4814.

The global data reveals exceptionally high levels of regular engagement. Daily use is the dominant behavior across the sample we surveyed.

Growing confidence and efficiency through AI

AI consistently makes people feel faster, more capable, and more confident by offloading cognitive work, accelerating problem-solving, and providing quick access to synthesized knowledge.

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"I feel a lot more confident and I also feel a lot more efficient."

"I feel relieved. I have the feeling that the AI takes a lot of work off my hands."

"It feels like talking to a friend. Or as if I am talking with a subordinate or an assistant."

"I feel like the king. I make my request known and then the AI will bring me will serve me exactly what I want."

Practical, repeatable tasks drive adoption

Across markets, AI is becoming a trusted helper for the everyday decisions that shape people's routines.

Primary use cases

AI is gaining traction for informational tasks and learning, where it clearly saves time, builds confidence, and fits naturally into daily decision-making.

AI personal use cases by market (census-weighted, 18–54)

Q: In the past 3 months, which types of personal (not work related) tasks have you used AI tools for?N=2027.

Expanding into creative, practical, and edge use cases

AI is being adopted opportunistically across immigration research, fitness planning, nutrition, travel, coding, and creative work—often replacing multiple tools or even professional services.

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"I got my nutrition and supplement plans to a very professional level with it. Had blood work analyzed. It saved me the doctor's visit."

"I've used AI to help me come up with a workout plan for my height, weight, age, fitness level, the kind of furniture and space I have in this flat, and it's come up, like, with a really good plan for it."

"I use it for checking train times. Until now, for checking trains, I had to log into the app, wait, and then open it."

"I used Github Copilot to put together that application has saved me a lot of work compared to how I used to do it before."

AI as an accessible and compassionate health guide

People increasingly rely on AI for health-related questions to gain clarity, reassurance, and emotional support—especially when traditional search tools feel overwhelming or insufficient.

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"AI was able to talk me through what to expect, what how things were unfolding, explaining terminology, and but also in a compassionate way."

"I was asking, what does this thing on my dog's skin look like."

"AI has suggested that it is normal to have something like that post surgery. So that information was quite helpful."

"So it was simply health questions. And questions that Google in that sense could not answer me so well."

Secondary use cases

Adoption beyond everyday, low-risk tasks is slower and seems to be influenced more by local attitudes toward trust, risk, and personal decision-making, revealing where cultural context shapes deeper engagement with AI.

Q: In the past 3 months, which types of personal (not work related) tasks have you used AI tools for?N=2027.

Strong desire to automate everyday life and mental load

Users want AI to handle routine household chores, scheduling, planning, and organization in order to reduce mental overhead and free time for more meaningful activities.

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"I wish AI could do my laundry and fold my clothes not because they're consuming, but because it would allow me to do other things."

"I wish AI could help me, for example, do my food shopping. Or, for example, cleaning, which it definitely can't."

"I wish the AI could help me do inventory management for my fridge."

"I was always trying to find a solution which can help me to find things, around my, house."

Most consumers use multiple AI tools

Across surveyed markets, consumers are assembling small AI toolkits, using different tools for different purposes, underscoring the importance of AI tool ecosystems, interoperability, and differentiation over single-tool dominance.

Tools used

Q: Which of the following products have you used in the past 3 months?N=2027.

Number of AI tools used

How many different AI tools people use for personal tasks (census-weighted, 18–54)

Q: How many different AI tools would you say you've used for personal tasks in the past 3 months?N=4814.

While most users across the markets surveyed use two or three AI tools, the top tools used varies significantly across markets.

A multi-tool AI ecosystem, not a single winner

Rather than committing to one platform, users actively switch between AI tools based on speed, integration, and task fit, creating a fragmented but flexible AI workflow.

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"I have used Artistly to try to make cartoon, videos, also to make coloring books, and to see what the graphics were."

"I'm now trying ClickUp. Something like, AI assistance to help to free up my schedule, rearrange my schedule, set reminders, just like secretary."

"Gamma AI is helping me quite a lot in generating content for a PowerPoint presentation that I normally do for my side hustles as well."

Workplace exposure shapes personal AI use

Personal AI adoption closely mirrors workplace exposure, with workers in digital, information-driven industries using AI more frequently in their personal lives, while those in hands-on or regulated fields adopt it more slowly, reflecting how comfort with AI at work carries over into everyday use.

AI usage for personal tasks, by employment industry

How often people use AI for personal tasks by industry (census-weighted, 18–54, N≥50)

Q: How often do you use AI tools (e.g. ChatGPT, Gemini) for personal (not work related) tasks?N=4814.

Accuracy and privacy are top concerns

Despite broad adoption across markets, consumers consistently cite concerns around accuracy, privacy, and response quality, highlighting that trust and reliability gaps need to be addressed before they expand personal AI use.

Primary barriers

Biggest issue when using AI for personal tasks by market (census-weighted, 18–54)

Q: What would you say is the biggest issue or limitation you've run into when using AI for personal tasks?N=2027.

Secondary barriers

Q: What would you say is the biggest issue or limitation you've run into when using AI for personal tasks?N=2027.

Ongoing anxiety around privacy and data control

People remain uneasy about how their data is stored, reused, or shared, and want stronger guarantees, transparency, and control over conversation history and sensitive information.

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"How much are we regulating or able to have any type of real control over AI and what it does or doesn't do or the direction it's going in."

"Having some knowledge of where our data is going and how it's being used when we do input it into these AI tools, I think that would just be helpful and kind of give us more of a peace."

" I don't really trust it enough to just upload my financial details."

"Don't save our history... Don't save our chat. We don't want anyone to access our chat. We want privacy."

Persistent concerns about accuracy and hallucinations

While powerful, AI is seen as unreliable at times, with users frequently encountering hallucinations and incorrect answers—driving a desire for clearer signals of confidence and source reliability.

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"If you're giving a lot of things to do, it can come back with things that are just not true and not accurate."

"It was making things up or it was making some assumptions. So if we didn't do our due diligence, we will never have known."

"There are many times when I think I wasted time. Hallucinating and thinking I wasted time."

"When I just asked whether there is certain literature on a certain topic, the AI answered incorrectly ... giving me sources that don't exist at all."

Consumers want more humanlike, personalized AI

As consumers become more familiar with AI tools, their expectations are evolving beyond basic functionality. Many users expressed a desire for more personalized and humanlike interactions with AI systems.

Aspirations for AI to become a life optimizer

Users imagine AI evolving into a coach, financial advisor, home manager, and business partner—helping them improve health, finances, learning, and long-term outcomes.

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"I wish AI could help me lose weight. And get more fit? Like, I know it can, but I just am not sure how."

"I wish AI could help me to automate my home, like, turning off lights, turning on fans, at a certain time."

"I wish I could use AI as a financial assistant. I wish that it would go through my whole bank account and tell me where I could be saving money."

"I wish AI could help me realize a business idea that meets my income and wealth goals."

Desire for warmer, more human-like interaction

Many users feel current AI interactions are overly robotic and want conversations that feel more natural, emotionally intelligent, and human.

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"Try to make it more human."

"Sometimes it seems not human. Like, it just seems straight from a robot, like a script."

"It feels like it really sounds like a machine talking."

"Introduce a little bit of, human touch to the conversations, so it feels that you are talking to a human."

Strong demand for deeper personalization and memory

Users expect AI to remember prior context, routines, and preferences, and become frustrated when tools feel stateless, inconsistent, or unable to learn over time.

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"Sometimes I feel like the AI doesn't fully remember all the previous conversations. And so, like, some of the things that they pick up are just doesn't match up."

"It is difficult for me to make it understand the consistency of my routine."

"A few minutes later, they give me other things that definitely go against the first things."

"Sometimes I have to go back to the AI to ask about a subject, about something I had already talked about and it just completely forgets everything it told me before."

Conclusion

AI is now deeply embedded in daily life across the globe with adoption driven primarily by use cases that deliver practical, everyday value.

While adoption is widespread and growing, trust remains fragile. Users want more accurate, transparent, and personalized systems that can better understand their routines and preferences while respecting their data and privacy. The next wave of AI adoption will depend on how well these tools address core concerns around reliability, privacy, and personalization.

Methodology

For this study, we collected responses from N=4814 consumers across 13 different markets - United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Spain, South Africa, Brazil, Australia, India, Japan, Singapore, and Malaysia. We restricted the sample to ages 18-54 and to people who have used AI at least once in the past. All of the charts in this report has been re-adjusted to match country 2025 census demographics based on age and gender. The sample was collected between October 25 and November 12, 2025.

Questions were automatically translated into respondents' preferred languages (English, French, German, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, Hindi, Japanese, Bahasa Melayu) using LLMs. All responses were translated back into English for reporting purposes.

For respondents that agreed to be interviewed, we collected video responses to answer additional questions on their feelings about AI. Respondents all agreed to be included in a public report and their personal details have been removed for privacy.

To provide global breadth while keeping comparisons clear, we've restricted some of our charts to just 5 markets: United States, United Kingdom, Brazil, India, and Japan to represent a mix of mature and emerging digital economies, different levels of English-language alignment, distinct cultural attitudes toward technology, and varying AI adoption curves. This combination allows us to illustrate meaningful global contrasts without overwhelming the reader with data from 13 separate markets.

We used User Interviews for recruitment & screening of the sample and Voicepanel response collection, automatic translation, thematic analysis, and highlight reel generation.

Thank you

Thank you to everyone involved in making this report possible, particularly User Interviews for their partnership in recruitment and screening, Allie Rubenstein who drafted the report, and to the respondents who took the time to share their thoughts with us.