I asked the people around me — friends, family, and coworkers — a few simple questions about whether and how they use AI, what platforms they reach for, and what they actually do with it. 38 of them answered. Here is what the data says.
A few representative answers, anonymized.
“I present to executives regularly, and getting information into a concise, polished format matters a lot. AI has made that dramatically faster.”
Coworker · Software & SaaS“I use it to rewrite messages so I don't sound annoyed or unhinged, for journaling, and to think through whatever I'm stuck on.”
Friend · Healthcare“I use it like traditional Google — basically any query I have now goes through AI first.”
Family · Finance“I'm very hostile toward AI in general. But it's a powerful tool I'll likely have to embrace to stay competitive.”
Friend · Legal services“I experimented with it for code, but its use rarely resulted in time saved — which I actually measured. So I stopped.”
Family · Software & SaaS“As I get older I feel I need to rely on my brain more to keep it active, not on AI. I switched search engines to avoid the AI summaries.”
Family · (not employed)“It walked me through transitioning my cat to a new automatic litter box he was scared of — step by step. Great advice.”
Family · Education“Mostly it's a brain dump. I'll talk a full memo into a voice note and let the model shape it into something usable.”
Coworker · Software & SaaS“Cleaning stains out of shirts.”
Friend · Media & Entertainment
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| # | Relationship | Industry | Function | Uses AI | Frequency | Primary tool | Where |
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