How People Use ChatGPT: Conversation-Level Evidence from India, Nigeria, Brazil, and Pakistan

arXiv:2609.38279v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: Public understanding of how people use LLM-based conversational AI assistants comes primarily from aggregate platform reports by OpenAI and Anthropic, which apply fixed taxonomies and inferred demographics to hundreds of millions of users and release only summary statistics that outside researchers cannot re-analyze. We provide a complementary, conversation-level view: complete ChatGPT exports comprising 202,590 conversations from 1,252 users across India, Nigeria, Brazil, and Pakistan, paired with self-reported age and gender and spanning December 2022 to February 2026. To our knowledge this is the first conversation-level, demographically grounded comparison of ChatGPT use across multiple non-Western countries. We ask what these users use ChatGPT for (purpose), what they talk about (topics), and how they engage with it (mode of interaction), using the platform's own classifiers, unsupervised topic discovery, and a thematic analysis of expressive conversations. Personal use accounts for 55-64% of conversations in every country and coursework is about as common as work, so workplace productivity describes a minority of use. Unsupervised topic discovery surfaces country-specific uses that the OpenAI taxonomy folds into generic categories: health and wellness in India and Brazil, Urdu-English translation in Pakistan, current affairs in Nigeria, religious questions in Nigeria and Pakistan, and self-reflection in Brazil. Over three years, the share of conversations that seek information declined only modestly and the share that de

Study provides conversation-level view of ChatGPT use

This is a descriptive empirical study of usage patterns, not a claim about societal benefit or harm. The rise in expressive/emotional use is notable but the paper does not assess whether this is healthy or concerning, leaving the implication genuinely open.

The study provides empirical data on ChatGPT usage in specific non-Western countries, highlighting diverse applications beyond typical Western-centric assumptions. It is mostly neutral as it describes existing use patterns rather than predicting future impacts, but the finding that personal use dominates over productivity, and the rise of expressive conversations, suggests a slight positive implication for individual flourishing.

The study shows diverse and beneficial uses of ChatGPT across different countries. It highlights how AI can adapt to local needs, enhancing personal and educational use. This suggests a positive impact on human flourishing.

SOURCE     arXiv cs.CY (Computers and Society) (tier 1)
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DOCUMENT   1e7e791c-2481-4aba-b24a-18a7a653b2a7
           https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.38279
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EVIDENCE   2 extracted excerpts
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MODEL RUN  4 runs, methodology 1.0.1
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SCORE      -34  (Adverse)
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CONFIDENCE 80%