In the early days of new technology, especially with very broad applications like the internet or artificial intelligence, things are moving fast. As hundreds or even thousands of uses and implementations are introduced and developed to see if it improves, enriches or streamlines our work or daily routines. Some innovations make it in the long term, most do not. 

We are currently in the experimental stage of AI where alongside big early steps in capabilities we’re trying to find out what AI means to us. Will it make our work more efficient? Will it cure cancer? Become an advanced search engine? Solve climate change? Will AI do the laundry while we make art? Or will we do the laundry while AI makes art?

Fortunately, HBR shares a yearly list of exactly what people are using AI for and this year there has been a very interesting (and concerning) shift. Whereas in 2024, people used AI the most for generating new ideas, in 2025 the most popular use of AI is therapy and companionship, followed by people using AI tools to organize their life (2) and finding purpose (3). In contrast to last year, the top 3 consists solely of personal support, indicating that AI is becoming more prominent in our intimate and personal sphere. 

Whereas these uses can potentially be positive, in regions or countries where mental health resources are scarce. On the other hand, it also has a distinct black mirror-ish feeling that AI is increasingly mixing itself into the inner lives of people, especially as the creators of AI are for-profit corporations and regulation for new tech is generally slow to catch up.

As Yuval Noah Harari wrote: “We are unlikely to face a robot rebellion in the coming decades, but we might have to deal with hordes of bots who know how to press our emotional buttons better than our mother, and use this uncanny ability to try and sell us something- be it a car, a politician, or an entire ideology. The bots could identify our deepest fears, hatreds and cravings, and use these inner leverages against us.”

It will be interesting to see if this trend continues in the future and if AI continues to gain ground in our personal lives.