Thought leaders dubbed ChatGPT’s emergence – and subsequent generative AI proliferation – as the “fourth industrial age.”
Whether it will re-shape the economy entirely still remains to be seen. But there’s no denying that most people are familiar with, and are actively using AI.
What are they using it for?
This ranking tracks the most popular AI use cases as sourced from an analysis done by Marc Zao-Sanders for Harvard Business Review. He examined thousands of forum posts over the last year in a follow-up to his 2024 analysis.
The top 30 ranks from this report have been visualized in this graphic via Visual Capitalist’s Pallavi Rao. Labels have been edited lightly from the source for readability.
Here’s How Everyone is Using AI in 2025
People are using AI for support (both professional and personal) in 2025
In fact, the top three use cases (therapy, life organization, and finding purpose) all show that AI can assist humans in managing both emotions and their life.
| 2024 | Use Case | Category | 2025 | Use Case | Category |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Generate Ideas | ContentCreation | 1 | Therapy & Companionship | Support |
| 2 | Therapy & Companionship | Support | 2 | Organize Life | Support |
| 3 | Specific Search | Research& Analysis | 3 | Find Purpose | Support |
| 4 | Edit text | ContentCreation | 4 | Enhance Learning | Learning &Education |
| 5 | Explore Interests | Learning &Education | 5 | Generate Code | TechnicalAssistance |
| 6 | Fun & Nonsense | Creativity &Recreation | 6 | Generate Ideas | ContentCreation |
| 7 | Troubleshoot | TechnicalAssistance | 7 | Fun & Nonsense | Creativity &Recreation |
| 8 | Enhance Learning | Learning &Education | 8 | Improve Code | TechnicalAssistance |
| 9 | Personalize Learning | Learning &Education | 9 | Creativity | ContentCreation |
| 10 | General advice | Support | 10 | Healthy Living | Support |
| 11 | Draft emails | ContentCreation | 11 | Interview Preparation | Learning &Education |
| 12 | Explainers | Learning &Education | 12 | Generate Images | Creativity &Recreation |
| 13 | Write & Edit Résumé | Support | 13 | Specific Search | Research& Analysis |
| 14 | Excel Formulas | TechnicalAssistance | 14 | Explainers | Learning &Education |
| 15 | Email Writing | ContentCreation | 15 | Cooking Guidance | Creativity &Recreation |
| 16 | Evaluate Copy | Research& Analysis | 16 | Troubleshoot | TechnicalAssistance |
| 17 | Improve Decisions | Research& Analysis | 17 | Personalize Learning | Learning &Education |
| 18 | Translation | TechnicalAssistance | 18 | Boost Confidence | Support |
| 19 | Improve Code | TechnicalAssistance | 19 | Email Writing | ContentCreation |
| 20 | Draft Document | ContentCreation | 20 | Explain Legalese | TechnicalAssistance |
| 21 | NavigatePersonal Disputes | Support | 21 | Child Entertainment | Creativity &Recreation |
| 22 | Summarize Content | Learning &Education | 22 | Corporate LLM | Support |
| 23 | Make a Complaint | Support | 23 | Student Essays | Learning &Education |
| 24 | Recommendations | Creativity &Recreation | 24 | Travel Itinerary | Support |
| 25 | Cooking Guidance | Creativity &Recreation | 25 | Childcare Help | Creativity &Recreation |
| 26 | Generate Appraisals | ContentCreation | 26 | Medical Advice | Support |
| 27 | Creativity | ContentCreation | 27 | Navigate Personal Disputes | Support |
| 28 | Medical Advice | Support | 28 | Generate Legal Document | ContentCreation |
| 29 | GenerateLegal Document | ContentCreation | 29 | Conversations | Support |
| 30 | Fix Code | TechnicalAssistance | 30 | Anti-trolling | ContentCreation |
And aside from therapy, these were not the top uses in 2024: which revolved around idea generation and search.
Speaking of AI search, its popularity has fallen 10 spots. People are still interested in learning and making AI explain concepts or add context for them. But they’re not actively looking up information as much.
(This may also be because of Gemini’s integration in Google Search).
AI For Mental Health: Good or Bad?
With mental health support severely underfunded and the Loneliness Epidemic only continuing, it’s no surprise AI has emerged as a viable outlet for people to get some support in their life.
Experts say they can see its usefulness for teaching mindfulness or cognitive behavioral therapy to users.
However, the problem occurs when AI is used as a replacement for actual human relationships, preventing deeper human connections, in turn exacerbating loneliness.
