--- title: "A new study (Harvard, Duke, OpenAI) reveals how ChatGPT use is shifting." url: https://sam-page.com/thinking/a-new-study-harvard-duke-openai-reveals-how-chatgpt-use-is-shifting date: 2025-09-16 author: Sam Page type: Post or article categories: [People and behaviour, Emerging tech and AI] reading_time: 2 min summary: "The findings are important - people aren’t just asking questions anymore." first_published: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn%3Ali%3AugcPost%3A7373810897078607873 --- # A new study (Harvard, Duke, OpenAI) reveals how ChatGPT use is shifting. The findings are important - people aren’t just asking questions anymore. ![](https://sam-page.com/img/thinking/a-new-study-harvard-duke-openai-reveals-how-chatgpt-use-is-shifting-li1.webp) ![](https://sam-page.com/img/thinking/a-new-study-harvard-duke-openai-reveals-how-chatgpt-use-is-shifting-li2.webp) ![](https://sam-page.com/img/thinking/a-new-study-harvard-duke-openai-reveals-how-chatgpt-use-is-shifting-li3.webp) 700 million people now use ChatGPT every week. Here are a few of the key stats that stood out to me: - Both work and non-work usage is growing. Personal usage faster: --- Work messages grew from 213 million to 716 million per day. --- Non-work messages grew from 238 million to 1.9 billion per day. - Top 3 use cases: guidance, seeking info, writing (80% of chats). - Education is booming: 1 in 10 queries are tutoring or teaching. - Coding is just 4.2%. Far lower than predicted / less than some competitors. - Emotional use is tiny: under 2%. People want utility, not companionship. - At work, AI is mainly used for editing, problem-solving, and documenting, not “magic creation from scratch.” 56% doing, 35% asking, 9% expressing. The biggest shift? We’re not just searching anymore. We’re starting to outsource parts of our decision-making. This has a profound impact for brands. The role has changed. You’re no longer informing customers, you’re actively trying to shape the choices they make. And it's a big opportunity to build trust and loyalty. Key points to consider to tap into these trends: + Guidance over information: Customers don’t want brochures, they want personalised advice that helps narrow choices. + Decision support as differentiator: Tools that allow comparison, simulation, and scenario-planning build confidence in complex purchases. + Co-creation over one-way messaging: People expect to refine, adapt, and edit with you, not just be handed a static answer. + Education as a trust builder: Explainers, tutorials, and learning journeys position your brand as the partner that helps customers feel informed, not just sold to. + Consumer-grade expectations at work: Personal AI use sets the benchmark. Professional experiences must feel just as smooth, intuitive, and conversational. + Trust is the currency: Transparency, validation, and expert-backed answers are what give people the reassurance to act. The thread running through all of this is confidence. People aren’t just searching for more information, they want enough certainty to take the next step. And that’s where brands can make the difference. Rather than just creating noise, they need to help people move forward with clarity. I would love to hear your thoughts and outtakes from this data too...