Survey: Daily AI Use Is High, but Mostly for Simple Tasks
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The Takeaway
- Four out of five Information readers use AI tools daily.
- AI is primarily used for simple tasks like research and content summarization.
- Generative AI for code and creative content sees notable adoption.
Four out of five readers of The Information say they use new AI tools daily, mostly as a search and information tool, according to our latest subscriber survey. The next most common use cited by subscribers is handling small, routine tasks at work such as drafting messages and summarizing content.
A smaller but notable share is taking advantage of AI’s most generative abilities—creating code, images and video—at home and work. Meanwhile, personal use cases like health tracking, companionship and emotional support remain on the fringe.
The findings are based on the responses of 631 readers of The Information who reported using generative AI, comprising 94% of those surveyed.
Across both personal and professional life, information comes first: 88% say they use AI for research and information gathering while working, while 85% say they use it for the same purpose on their own time.
At work, the most common uses for AI after research are less glamorous ones. More than two-thirds of respondents who use AI have it draft communications and summarize content. More than half use it to summarize emails and documents or to analyze data. Almost half rely on it to transcribe meetings. Those tasks, while mundane, dominate many respondents’ days and are easy candidates for automation.
A meaningful minority uses AI for more technical tasks. Roughly a third of respondents who use AI say they use it to build tools, scripts and agents for task automation (32%) and to write or debug code (29%). Because fewer workers regularly perform these tasks to begin with, the results suggest relatively strong adoption among those who would ever consider using AI this way.
Of course, all survey respondents are subscribers to a technology publication, so they’re more likely to code—and to use AI in general—than the average person.
Some everyday tasks, like managing calendars, remain less touched by AI—perhaps because of limited integration, low trust or both.
In their personal lives, respondents again turn to AI primarily for research. Many treat chatbots as generalist assistants, substituting them for travel blogs or WebMD. More than half say they have sought medical or health information from a chatbot, and an equal share say they have used one to plan a vacation. Nearly half use AI to learn new skills or subjects.
A small share—from a quarter to a third of respondents who use AI—uses it for building creative content such as code for personal projects, creative writing, art and videos. Notably, an equal share uses AI coding at work as for personal projects, suggesting respondents are engaging in more experimentation and creative use beyond professional tasks.
Around one in five use AI for budgeting and finance or for managing tasks and calendars.
Chatbots are not replacing friends, at least not yet. Only 5% of respondents who used AI say they seek companionship and emotional support from an AI service.
Still, a minority uses chatbots for other emotional or social purposes: 14% for relationship or social advice, 13% for journaling and 12% for mental health questions or therapy. To put that in context, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported in 2024 that 14% of U.S. adults had received counseling or therapy from a mental health professional in the prior year.
Kids are using AI, too. Two in three respondents with kids say their children use AI services. Of these parents, around a quarter say they use AI to help their children with homework.
Each month, The Information also asks readers about their outlook for the tech industry in the coming six months. In November, 52% of respondents say they expect conditions for tech to improve, 19% say they expect them to worsen and 29% think they will stay the same—a brighter outlook than last month.
Readers’ expectations for the 14 companies we follow in our Tech Sentiment Tracker have fluctuated since last month. Readers are much more pessimistic about Coinbase’s and Palantir’s near future but more optimistic about Airbnb and Google.