- A new Future survey has revealed what we’re using AI for right now
- The most popular use for AI in the US is to learn more about subjects
- In the UK, people are using AI to write emails and generate content ideas
Generating photorealistic images, improving the quality of your writing and getting quick, in-depth answers to burning questions: you can use the best AI tools like ChatGPT to help you achieve a lot of things in 2025. And based on new survey data, that’s exactly what users in the UK and the US are doing.
The research, conducted by Future – the publisher that owns TechRadar – has revealed the top uses for AI tools on both sides of the pond. People taking part in the survey were asked what tasks they use AI to complete – examples included writing an email and generating content ideas.
More AI survey results
While some of the results aren’t surprising, the figures confirm the ever-growing role that AI tools play in modern life, particularly when it comes to the workplace. Some 70% of respondents in the US answered that they use AI for at least one of the listed tasks.
According to the research, that number is lower in the UK. Still, it’s significant that half of Brits who took part in the survey reported using AI tools for at least one of the tasks.
We’ve unpicked the findings in detail below, including a round-up of the least common uses for AI tools – which, somewhat sensibly, includes using chatbots as a free therapist…
The results are in…
Interestingly, the top four uses for AI tools are the same in both the UK and the US: that is, to learn more about a different subject, use it as an alternative to traditional search engines, write an email, and generate content ideas. Here’s a list of the US responses, divided into responses from Zillennials alongside a nationally representative sample:
All of these are relatively conventional uses of mainstream AI tools such as ChatGPT or Google Gemini. What differs across continents is the order of popularity, as well as the percentage of users who favor AI tools for each of the listed tasks.
In the US, the most popular uses for AI tools are to learn about a different subject and as an alternative to traditional search engines. 27% of survey participants reported using AI tools for each.
Joint-second in the US list of AI-assisted tasks are writing an email and generating content ideas, which were both selected by 24% of respondents.
That order is pretty much reversed in the UK: writing an email and generating content ideas share top billing among uses for AI tools, featuring in 19% of participants’ lists. Beneath that come learning about a different subject (16%) and as an alternative to traditional search engines (13%).
Another interesting comparison is between the tasks which rank bottom of the top five in each country. In the US, 15% of users reported using AI tools to generate code and formulae, which could reflect the country’s employment landscape and its high number of software developers.
That purpose doesn’t even rank in the top nine for Brits. Instead, the fifth-ranked use of AI in the UK is for assistance during a job application, coming in at 12%. It isn’t clear whether users are using AI tools to polish their written applications, to refine their resumes or to generate practice interview questions, but all of these are possibilities.
The results largely match similar research on the subject. Ben Wood, Chief Analyst at CCS Insight, told us: “This research aligns well with the feedback CCS Insight is seeing from consumers.
“Around 45% of people we spoke to in the UK told us the most compelling use case for AI is collating answers without having to click on search results. Summarizing long documents and automatically writing emails or letters in a particular style are also popular user cases.”
What else are people using AI for?
Things are just as interesting as you look further down the list. It’s clear that uptake of AI tools is generally higher in the US than in the UK.
For example, using AI tools for assistance with a job application ranks at number seven on the US list, yet it was picked by 13% of respondents – more than in the UK list, where it ranks at position five.
As above, there are some obvious similarities when comparing UK and US lists. The sixth-ranked use for AI in both countries is to create a project management schedule. This shouldn’t come as a surprise: there are a number of AI-powered project management tools, plus generative AI chatbots have the ability to quickly generate schedules based on contextual information.
Eight and ninth on both lists are the following uses for AI:
- As a free therapist (11% in the US / 10% in the UK)
- To describe a day in your dream life (11% in the US / 8% in the UK)
While they might rank at the bottom of the list, those are still fairly high numbers for what might look like unconventional uses for AI.
However, there’s been a lot of discussion about the ethical considerations surrounding chatbots acting as therapists. That at least a tenth of users in both the UK and the US are happy to use AI tools as an avenue to free therapy shows how quickly the tech is spreading outside of the workplace.
Notably, 10% of users in the UK also responded that they have used AI tools to create a tailored gym plan. Its popularity on the list supports the idea that some people are happy to get life and fitness advice for free from a chatbot, rather than paying a premium for the input of a trained human.
On the surface, that might seem a concerning revelation for wellness practitioners in the UK, as well as other industries built around advisory roles.
However, it’s also worth noting that the survey didn’t ask respondents to go into further detail. Participants weren’t asked if they see AI as a potential replacement for trained professionals, for example, or whether they were happy with the fitness plans generated by AI tools. This is something that we’ve tested ourselves, asking ChatGPT and Gemini to design workouts, with mixed results.
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christian.rowlands@me.com (Chris Rowlands)
