Let’s be honest: almost every entrepreneur feels that way from time to time. You open LinkedIn and it’s full of AI. A consultant tells you that you need to “transform”. Since last year, every software company has suddenly launched an AI product. And underlying every message is the same underlying message: everyone’s using AI for everything now, so you’re falling behind.
But is that actually true? We are now better placed than ever to answer that question. In 2025, OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, together with researchers (including Harvard economist David Deming), published the largest study to date on how people actually use ChatGPT. The study was published by the renowned National Bureau of Economic Research and anonymously analysed a representative sample drawn from millions of conversations.
And the result is, to be honest, refreshingly down-to-earth.
What the research actually showed
First, the scale – because that really is impressive. In July 2025, some 700 million users collectively sent around 18 billion messages a week to ChatGPT, accounting for roughly ten per cent of all adults worldwide. Never before has a technology spread across the globe so quickly.
But if you look at what all those posts are actually about, the hype starts to fall apart. Almost 80 per cent of usage falls into just three categories:
- Practical help. The largest category: getting explanations, how-to advice, learning and generating ideas.
- Looking up information. Questions about people, current affairs, products and recipes. According to the researchers, it is a close substitute for a standard search engine.
- Writing. Drafting emails and texts, but above all editing, summarising and translating existing texts.
In fact, two-thirds of all the writing work involves improving text provided by the user themselves. For most people, therefore, ChatGPT is not a magician, but a clever editor.
And take note of this: learning and education is one of the largest individual areas of application, accounting for over 10 per cent of all messages. Not exactly the image of AI as a universal consumer interface.
What’s not included
What is missing at the top of the list is at least as telling:
- no surge in people discovering restaurants via AI;
- no bulk product purchases via a chatbot;
- not a replacement for Google Maps;
- no revolution in the way guests choose where to eat or stay.
The vast majority is simply, in OpenAI’s own words, “getting everyday tasks done”. Getting everyday chores done more quickly. That is something completely different from “AI is changing the way guests choose a restaurant or hotel today”.
The bottom line: visibility is not the same as adoption
We believe this is where the fallacy lies. There is a significant gap between perception (“everyone uses AI for everything”) and reality (“people use a smart assistant for everyday tasks”). And this is down to a familiar mechanism.
AI companies talk about it non-stop. LinkedIn is full of it. Consultants are pitching it as an urgent transformation. And software companies are rapidly repositioning their existing products around AI.
The result is a psychological effect whereby you confuse visibility with adoption. Because you read about it everywhere, it feels as though everyone is using it for that purpose everywhere. But talking a lot about something is not the same as it being used on a massive scale in the way that is suggested.
Where the real impact of AI lies today
And this is precisely what makes it so interesting. OpenAI’s data does not suggest that AI is insignificant. On the contrary. But the greatest impact is currently being felt on the back end of businesses: efficiency, content, knowledge work, faster writing and better decision-making. Not on the consumer side, where public perception places the greatest change.
In other words: the real shift is happening mainly on the shop floor, not yet in your guests’ search behaviour. And that completely changes the way you, as a hospitality or hotel business owner, should view this.
What this means for your restaurant or hotel
Suppose you think: “My guests will all be searching via ChatGPT soon.” In that case, you run the risk of making the wrong investments. You’ll be putting your budget into a channel that, as things stand, only a small proportion of your guests use, whilst the channels that actually do the job are being neglected.
Because these days, your guests almost always find out about you through:
- Google Maps and Google Search;
- Instagram and TikTok;
- reviews;
- and a friend’s time-honoured recommendation.
That’s where your occupancy rate is calculated. Not in a chat window.
Does that mean you should ignore AI? Absolutely not. It means you should use AI where research shows the benefits lie: on your side of the counter. Creating content more quickly. Responding to reviews promptly and personally. Preparing emails and campaigns. Drafting staff handbooks and procedures. Generating ideas for a quiet month. Exactly the sort of everyday tasks that people are turning to ChatGPT for in droves. So you’re doing the same, but to run your business more efficiently.
And the great thing is: by getting your listings, photos, reviews and content in order, you’ll be ready for the day when AI search does become more widespread. Because those fundamentals are exactly what those systems pick up on.
In conclusion
The largest study to date on AI usage paints a down-to-earth, almost reassuring picture. People mainly use AI as a smart assistant for everyday tasks, and far less as the all-encompassing consumer channel that the hype would have you believe it is. The change is real, but for the time being it’s mainly happening behind the scenes in your business, not yet in how your guests find you.
So don’t let yourself be misled by visibility that masquerades as adoption. Invest in what has been proven to work, and use AI as the driving force behind your own work.
At the moment, AI is mainly changing the way you run your business, not yet the way your guests choose you. So invest in both, but in that order.
Would you like to discuss AI with us? No strings attached – just an honest chat about how we might be able to help you. Book an appointment with The Fully Bookers.
