The End of Work... or the End of Chores?

Everyone is worried about AI taking our jobs, but as it turns out, our new AI partners are spending a significant amount of time assisting us with personal tasks.

The ChatGPT study shows that by June 2025, over 70% of consumer messages were for non-work-related things.

The use of these tools for work-related questions has increased, but their use for non-work-related purposes is growing even faster.

It reminds us that AI is not only beneficial for work but also for personal tasks, highlighting the ubiquitous possibilities of this technological transformation.

What is the most popular task on these tools? Writing! Open AI report found that writing accounts for a whopping 40% of all work-related messages.

This isn’t just about spitting out new content; two-thirds of these messages are about editing, critiquing, and summarizing text that the user already has.

It’s an augmentation tool for the most fundamental skill of the knowledge economy.

We can all rethink our workflows by leveraging these tools to enhance our writing processes, but that is fairly obvious already, given the usage statistics in these reports.

The Anthropic report also supports this, highlighting document editing as a core use case in high-adoption areas, such as Washington, D.C.

I can see the political prompt now - “Please write me a 1,000-page bill so no one reads it and gets passed quickly.” I digress.

From Augmentation to Automation and Back Again

As we’ve grown comfortable with these tools, trust has increased.

The ChatGPT study describes 'Asking' - seeking advice or information - and 'Doing' - having AI handle a task.

By July 2025, Doing made up almost 56% of work messages.

Anthropic also notes 'directive automation,' where users delegate tasks to AI, jumped from 27% to 39% in nine months. For API businesses, the rate reached 77%.

But that’s not all. The ChatGPT team found that asking messages are growing faster than those that are done, and are rated higher by users.

This suggests we let AI handle simple tasks but value it as an advisor for complex decisions, especially among highly educated professionals, where good decision-making drives productivity.

Uneven Adoption: The Haves and Have-Nots

Like other new technologies, the benefits of AI aren't being shared equally.

The Anthropic report reveals a correlation between GDP and AI usage.

Wealthier countries and US states with a high concentration of knowledge-based jobs are adopting AI at a significantly faster rate.

We may consider investing in infrastructure and training programs that accelerate the adoption of AI in lower-income regions to close the gap.

Encouraging public-private partnerships could also facilitate resource sharing and innovation transfer, helping bridge this divide.

Still, there’s some hope. The ChatGPT paper found that while high-income and educated users are more likely to use the tool for work, adoption is growing fastest in lower- and middle-income countries.

This means that, despite early gaps, global use is spreading rapidly and could help close those differences over time.

Beyond work and daily tasks, these reports highlight AI's growing influence in new domains.

I’ve identified some key trends in how people are utilizing AI.

Let's start an important conversation by examining how AI is impacting work, the most significant ethical challenges it poses, and how we can better prepare our organizations to leverage AI for greater inclusivity globally.

By exploring these questions, we can collectively shape the future of work and technology.

Let’s start this conversation.