Since ChatGPT came out of the shell in November 2022, generative artificial intelligence (AI) has become the brightest star in the tech industry. However, despite the hype that flutters furiously around generative AI, the truth is that in reality very few people regularly use tools like ChatGPT . At least this is what emerges from a recent study undertaken by the Reuters Institute and the University of Oxford in six different countries (the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Denmark, Japan and Argentina).
The report , which involved more than 12,000 people, concludes that, even with relatively limited use of ChatGPT and the like, most people have heard of generative AI.
Among the lush bouquet of applications born from generative AI, ChatGPT is definitely the best known. Approximately 50% of those surveyed know this tool, a percentage that climbs, in fact, to 61% in Denmark and up to 58% in the United Kingdom.
Much less well-known are generative AI applications such as Google Gemini and Microsoft, which are known to only 15% to 25% of respondents. And if we look at more specialised tools such as Midjourney and Perplexity, their awareness rate among the public drops to below 10% and 5% respectively.
It is also worth noting that in France, Mistral's homeland, only 3% of people have heard of the company's technology specialising in generative AI. In this field of activity, the leading companies are mostly based in the United States.
Very few people use ChatGPT on a daily basis
Even though ChatGPT prides itself on being the most well-known generative AI tool, its daily use is rather low. In France and the UK, for example, only 2% of people use ChatGPT on a daily basis, while in the US this proportion rises to 7%.
If we look at alternative tools to ChatGPT such as Google Gemini and Microsoft Copilot, their daily usage plummets below 3%.
Most of those who have already sunk their teeth into generative AI tools have actually used them only once or twice since their launch.
However, younger people are more likely to be interested in generative AI . In the six countries under scrutiny in the report, 56% of people aged 18 to 24 and 43% of people aged 25 to 34 say they have used generative AI tools at some point. In contrast, only 16% of those over 55 have embraced this technology.
Even though most people primarily use generative AI for personal purposes rather than for professional and academic purposes, the specific uses of this technology are subject to quite a few variations.
24% of respondents use generative AI to compile information, while 28% rely on it for creation.
Among those who use this technology to obtain information, the most common uses include answering questions of a factual nature (11%), seeking advice (10%) and generating ideas (9%).
who take shelter under the wing of generative AI for creation belgium whatsapp lead use this technology to write emails or letters (9%), illuminate images (9%), create videos (4%), generate code (5%) or simply experiment (11%).
Even though generative AI is not being used very intensively, most people are fully convinced that this technology will impact practically all areas of society over the next five years.
72% of respondents expect AI to have a major impact on search engines and social media , while 66% expect this technology to also have a significant impact on the media . The same percentage (66%) also anticipate the influence of generative AI on the work of scientists.
Sectors such as health (59%), finance (59%), defense (56%) and government (53%) will also be affected by the impact of generative AI.
In addition, almost half of people believe that AI will have a profound impact on the lives of ordinary people as well. While a large proportion of respondents predict that this technology will improve their lives to some extent, a slightly higher proportion fear that generative AI will end up negatively affecting society.