OpenAI released fresh Signals data pulled from millions of consumer messages sent between July 2024 and the end of 2025. The company sorted through those conversations to figure out what people actually do with ChatGPT when they are not at work.
The findings paint a surprisingly human picture. The analysis splits interactions into three buckets. Asking covers moments when you want information or clarification. Doing includes tasks where you need ChatGPT to produce something. Expressing is when users share thoughts or feelings without expecting any output or answer. That third category keeps showing up, suggesting people are finding something in the chatbot that goes beyond productivity.
Expressive use is more than venting
That expressive bucket is not just about emotional outbursts. It covers any moment a user shows up with a thought, an opinion, or a feeling that needs somewhere to go. The data shows these exchanges are a consistent slice of overall usage, not some weird edge case.
The Signals page also tracks work-related message likelihood by consumer plan type. Free and paid users lean on ChatGPT differently for professional tasks. The company notes this analysis excludes enterprise customers, so workplace adoption likely runs higher than these numbers show.
Younger users and global trends
Age tells part of the story too. OpenAI looked at users who volunteered their age, and younger groups in the 18 to 34 range drive most of the personal engagement. They appear more comfortable treating ChatGPT like a space to think out loud rather than just another work tool.
The global rankings add another layer. The company ranked countries by ChatGPT messages sent per capita, limiting the analysis to nations with more than 5 million people. The United States gets its own state-by-state breakdown. OpenAI does not operate in several countries including China, Russia, and North Korea, so those markets sit outside the data entirely. The company also tracks usage by first names categorized as typically masculine or feminine, though it stresses it does not collect gender information directly.
What comes next for AI relationships
The current dataset runs through the end of 2025, but OpenAI plans to update the Signals page with fresh metrics and breakdowns over time.
Future updates will show whether expressive use keeps climbing or if new categories emerge as people find stranger, more personal ways to interact with AI. The takeaway for now is simple. You’re not the only one treating ChatGPT like something more than a work chatbot.
