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We still don’t know how people are really using AI

View original at technologyreview.com
MIT Technology Review - Ai Research Title: We still don’t know how people are really using AI Date: 2026-08-18 10:06 Source: https://www.technologyreview.com/2026/08/18/1142226/how-people-use-ai/ <div></div> <p>AI companies like Anthropic and OpenAI regularly publish reports on how people are using products like Claude…
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  • Anyone making decisions based on AI usage data risks completely operating in the wild and making consequential decisions without knowing what's actually happening beyond company narratives.

    60% confidence

  • Having the AI Observatory's bird's-eye-view analysis rather than leaving that information sectioned off into a separate report helps researchers understand the different uses more consistently.

    60% confidence

  • There is no independent source to corroborate the usage data AI companies publish.

    60% confidence

  • No single company report tells the whole story of AI usage.

    60% confidence

  • Anthropic's published research reflects its research teams' specific questions and interests, and it's important to support external independent research.

    60% confidence

  • Researchers cannot determine whether Anthropic's general-purpose AI system is used mostly for good or mostly for bad because that information is proprietary.

    60% confidence

  • Highly consequential decisions about AI's benefits and risks are currently being made on the basis of very limited data.

    60% confidence

Data points we hold from this source

OpenAI · conversations analyzed1500000 count
OpenAI · work related use share30 percent
What we know · the intelligence behind this page
Live from the substrate
What we're seeing
AI Leadership Exodus Rattles Investor Confidence Amid Capex Boom
High-profile departures at top AI labs — Brad Lightcap's exit from OpenAI and an unnamed researcher's departure from Alphabet/Google that triggered a share-price drop — are surfacing talent retention as a market risk factor even as hyperscalers pour record capital into AI infrastructure. The reaction shows investors treating key-person risk at frontier AI labs as material to valuation, a new fragility layered onto an otherwise bullish AI-driven capex cycle.
Our read on the data ›
Signals we're tracking
EPKINLY Regulatory-Clinical Success Cascade
High probability of expanded label indications, additional combination approvals, and competitive positioning strength in follicular lymphoma market. Predicts positive commercial uptake and potential accelerated review for related indications.
Patterns we're watching ›
Where sources disagree
Broadcom Inc.
Both facts report EPS for Broadcom Inc. for the same fiscal period (Q1 2026) observed on the same date (2026-02-01). However, they report conflicting values: 1.5 USD per share vs 2.05 USD per share. This is a 37% difference for the identical metric and time period, not a value change over time.
We flag conflicts openly ›
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