Tipping Point: 61% of Americans Now Use AI
And Most of Them Are Missing Out
I’m one of them. And I’d say I’m a little ahead of the pack. At least, my paid subscriptions indicate as much.
Even so, there’s a lot that not even $100+ a month in AI can get you. In a recent report from Menlo Ventures, the research firm attempted to unpack all the ways we’re using AI at work and home.
The survey was of 5,000 people. Of that 5,000, around 61% fessed up to ChatGPT-ing it. (The most preferred chatbot among them.)
“The fact that more than half of Americans already use AI is remarkable, especially considering most are just using it for quick, simple tasks,” said Shawn Carolan, Partner at Menlo Ventures. “The biggest opportunity lies ahead when AI handles complex jobs from start to finish. Imagine a parent saying, ‘Plan summer for my kids,’ and the AI takes care of everything: researching camps, juggling schedules, buying gear, coordinating carpools. That’s the promise: less drudgery, more living.”
Unfortunately, we ain’t there yet.
Only 3% of users actually pay for an account. And if you’re not paying, you’re not taking advantage of all AI has to offer.
We’ll illustrate it in dollar amounts. Generative AI tools are now a $12 billion industry if you go by the people paying for it.
But when you multiply the average cost a subscription by the people actually using it — this includes free accounts — the amount should be $432 billion.
That means $420 billion of the GenAI market is made up of freeloaders. Their typical use-cases include:
Writing emails
Managing to-do lists
Researching topics of interest
Receive writing support
Meal planning
Managing expenses
Organizing notes
Creating images
Researching health questions
Most of these tasks are simple to pull off. You share an example of what you’re after, tell the AI what to do, and hit Enter.
But they’re nowhere close to how far AI can go.
Just this week, I pondered how AI might be able to help me get a better handle on my finances. In the past, I’d just create a spreadsheet with all my expenses and earnings laid out.
It usually entailed a lot of data entry.
But that was before realizing you could lean on the visual recognition capabilities of AI. So, I decided to save a month of my transactions to a PDF directly from the mobile browser.
(Thank you, Full Page Screenshot.)
After that, I uploaded it to Gemini, and in a few minutes, I had an interactive dashboard that showed me exact income versus exact expenses, as well as a list of consolidated expenses so I could see how much I spent in each place, along with the number of transactions, all at once.
This goes beyond the typical $20-per-month fare.
The lesson here is clear: around 1.8 billion people worldwide are wowed by the benefits of AI. But only around 54 million of us are waking up to its more impressive capabilities. If you’re not in that 54 million, I suggest you start soon.
Pick a chatbot of choice, and upgrade to the $20/month plan. Better yet, experiment to see which interface and feature stack you like more.
And don’t be afraid to jump around among companies. It’s early in the game. You don’t owe your loyalties to anyone.
Take the time to explore advanced features. Get good at this stuff, and you’ll be in a much better position to succeed as it integrates deeper into our work lives.
If you need help along the way, don’t hesitate to reach out, or, better yet, join my daily newsletter for more helpful tips and tricks. It’s called mAIn Street, and you can sign up for free right here.