How are people actually using AI in their everyday lives?
This is the first in a series of posts where we'll be conducting original research on how people use AI. If you have suggestions for future research topics, please let us know at [email protected].
There’s a lot of hype around AI today, but lately, I've been wondering how people are actually using it in their everyday lives. Specifically, I want to better understand what tools they're using, why they’re using them, and whether they’re finding them helpful.
To me, understanding these deeper qualtiative insights is much more valuable than seeing the trends from a quantitative survey (of which there are already many, like these ones from McKinsey and Pew).
Unfortunately, I don't have the time to spend weeks scheduling and conducting a bunch of 1:1 interviews. So, I time-boxed this project to 2 hours and set about answering my questions using Versive's AI research platform.
For this initial study, I wanted to keep things lightweight. I built a study in Versive, sent it to people in my network, and analyzed the results using AI. Here's how it went:
Building the study
Time spent: 40 minutes
First, I designed the study and wrote out a discussion guide. I like to write out my first draft in a Notion doc before building it in Versive.
With some help from ChatGPT, I created a script of mostly open-ended questions. I started by asking ChatGPT to help me write a draft using the following prompt:
"Can you help me create a script for user interview. I want to keep the study to about 15 minutes with a focus on qualitative questions. The goal is to understand how people are using AI - how often they are using it, what tools they're using, how they are using them and why, and what the benefits and concerns are."
In my experience, ChatGPT is great for initial brainstorming and providing feedback on my drafts, but I find that it still requires a lot of iteration and human re-writing. All in all, I had 12 back and forth chats (with some editing in between) before I had a script I was happy with.
Then I moved on to the easy part. I copied and pasted my outline into Versive’s AI study creator, which built a draft of the study for me.
Finally, I made some adjustments to the questions and tested the AI questions in preview mode to make sure everything worked as I expected. 40-minutes in and I was ready to distribute the study.
Recruiting
Time spent: 15 minutes
For this initial study, I simply recruited participants in my network. I sent the study link to 10 people and got 7 responses within a couple days. In our follow-up study, I plan to recruit a larger sample of participants from a broader audience.
Analysis
Time spent: 40 minutes
Once I got all of the results back, I started to put together a report. I skimmed through each participant’s transcript and then used Versive’s AI analysis to generate a report, complete with insights for both the closed and open-ended questions.
I then exported the report and uploaded it to a Notion doc. I wanted to add a summary and some additional insights to the report, so I used Versive's AI Chat to help me answer some questions that came up as I read the report. I then added those insights to the report in Notion.
The Output
All in all, I spent under 2 hours of active time on this project and found some interesting insights. Here's a glimpse at the executive summary of the report:
- Frequency of Use: AI tools are used more frequently in professional settings, ranging from daily to monthly, compared to personal use, which is mostly weekly.
- Primary Uses: In personal life, AI aids with writing emails, summarizing text, and generating content. At work, it assists in tasks like coding, creating marketing content, and transcribing interviews.
- Benefits: AI tools save time and enhance productivity by streamlining tasks and improving workflow efficiency.
- Concerns: Users are wary of AI's accuracy, data security, and its ability to understand nuances in personal and professional contexts.
- Attitudes: Mixed feelings prevail, with optimism about productivity benefits tempered by skepticism about AI's impact on job markets and data security.
If you want to see the full report, you can check it out here.
What's next?
We plan on conducting more research on how people are using AI in their personal and professional lives, including a larger follow-up to this study. If you have suggestions for future research topics, please let us know at [email protected].
We’re also looking to collaborate with researchers to conduct more original research. If you’re interested, shoot us an email at [email protected].
If you'd like to try out Versive for yourself, request a demo or shoot us an email at [email protected].
Eric Li, Co-Founder, Versive
July 19, 2024