We asked 1,000 People in Canada: What Have You Used A.I. For?
What if you could ask everyone you talk to “how” they’re using AI?
That’s exactly what I’ve been doing for the past year and a half, giving keynotes. We always have to talk about AI, and lately the answers to that amazing question have been getting better and better. Now we’ve collected over 1000 peoples responses from across Canada. We’ve (who are we kidding, of course we got AI to sort them into categories) and produced the list for you below. The best part is the end (the bonus section) where all the weird responses are given.
Here’s what the slide looks like after people have submitted their answers. The bigger the word, the more people submitted it. Yes, I realize “Cats” is pretty big, but I can’t control what people put in here; it just shows what these cat lovers have submitted!
If you want to read more about AI, we wrote this:
- A Masterclass on Artificial Intelligence
- There I ruined it, a refreshing take on AI music
- The best thing AI can do for your company
The biggest question, I think, is “where do we go from here?” or “what does the future of AI hold for us?” When Chat analyzed the output, it did give a: Here’s a cool trend: If I had to summarize your entire dataset in one sentence, it would be this:
People aren’t asking AI to replace their jobs, they’re asking it to remove friction from their lives.
Almost every response falls into one of four human desires:
Help me communicate.
Help me understand.
Help me create.
Help me decide.
It also noticed something. People aren’t asking AI for answers. They’re asking it for…thinking partners.
Examples:
Help me…brainstorm, compare, rewrite, summarize, improve, organize, explain, simplify, plan.
AI isn’t replacing thinking. It’s becoming the second person in the room.
What would an A.I. Timeline look like?
2023 – “What is ChatGPT?”
2024 – “Write my emails.”
2025 – “Help me think.”
2026 – “Help me live.”
Here’s the list. Consolidated into categories. Some are obvious, like communication; others, like travel planning, I wouldn’t have guessed to be that popular. I guess I’m still planning trips on my own like a sucker!
1. Communication & Writing (The King)
By FAR the largest category. And are we really surprised? Personally, I’ve always been a bad writer, with too many ideas to consolidate into well-written paragraphs. Now? You don’t need to understand punctuation; you just need to come up with novel ideas, and you can produce content. Does that create more AI slop? Arguably, if it’s an original idea, it shouldn’t become slop; it should become something new.
Emails
Email replies
Email drafting
Professional emails
Kinder emails
Rewriting emails
Letter writing
Drafting letters
Reports
Report writing
Meeting minutes
Meeting summaries
Meeting transcripts
Notes
Memos
Briefing notes
Summaries
Summarizing documents
Summarizing reports
Proofreading
Grammar
Editing
Wording
Rewording
Tone checking
Clarifying language
Professional writing
Articles
Blog posts
Newsletter writing
Newsletters
Social captions
Writing cards
Obituaries
Tributes
Fundraising letters
Grant writing
Yes, someone put “obituary” in there. Morbid, yes; do we recommend it? No. But hey, if you don’t know what to write and are at a loss for words, maybe Chat is a good option.
Theme: “Help me communicate better.”
2. Research & Learning
Second biggest section. I don’t know about you, but I’m learning stuff all the time using AI. It’s a brilliant assistant that won’t judge you when you ask a dumb question. Well, you’re right; it will judge you a little. But you can turn down the sass on your AI if it gets too judgey!!
Research
Google replacement
Questions
Find information
Learning
History
General knowledge
Medical research
Legal research
Industry research
Product research
Weather
Pop culture
Translation
Understanding legislation
Health questions
Medical terminology
Definitions
Compare software
Review documents
Understanding policies
Theme: “Explain this to me.”
3. Travel & Planning
A surprisingly massive category. Friends have told me stories of vacations planned, road trips taken, and all because their little planning assistant helps organize their time and all the hidden gems they uncover.
Travel
Trip planning
Vacation planning
Itineraries
Trip itineraries
Sightseeing
Flight deals
Packing
Things to do
Tourism
Maps
4. Food & Meal Planning – Bigger than I expected.
I always love the story from Sara at our office; she told us about the lazy night she didn’t know what to cook, opened the fridge, took a picture and asked Chat, “You’re a Michelin-star chef; what would you make with all these ingredients?” You’d be surprised at what it comes up with!
Recipes
Recipe conversions
Meal plans
Meal prep
Weekly food plan
Grocery lists
Grocery planning
Dinner ideas
What’s in my fridge?
Vacation meals
5. Work Productivity – People are using AI like an assistant.
Just yesterday, a client was given a “report” on how bad the security was on their website. Now, funny enough, they are a technology company that manages SECURITY for customers. When we ran the report through Chat, it found a little line in the disclaimer, “the contents of this report are opinions, not facts”. So we literally don’t need to listen to the report? WTF?
Performance reviews
Policies
SOPs
Procedures
HR letters
Contracts
Board reports
Business analysis
Strategic plans
Vision statements
Mission statements
RFPs
Proposals
Job descriptions
Recruitment
Interview questions
Budgets
Accounting
Business strategy
Project management
Action items
6. Microsoft Office / Excel – Honestly deserves its own chapter.
I’ve used a video in a presentation before of a lady working with Copilot in Excel; she’s trying to come up with a formula and doesn’t know what it is, talks to Copilot, and it figures it out for her. The power of an AI in a spreadsheet is something I REALLY wish I had when I was in University accounting classes!
Excel formulas
Dashboards
Macros
VBA
Coding formulas
Spreadsheet cleanup
Reconciliations
Presentations
PowerPoint
Google Analytics reports
7. Marketing & Creative – This one made me smile.
Am I worried about a job? HA! Everyone should be worried! But again, AI isn’t taking jobs away; it’s making jobs easier to do. With an assistant that knows how to write, design, code, strategize, almost everything other than having an in-person conversation. AI is changing marketing for the better.
The number of times I’ve told my Chat to “make it sound more SRATLABBY!” Yes, that is a word.
Marketing
Marketing plans
Social media
Facebook posts
Instagram captions
Logos
Posters
Images
Image generation
Ads
Radio ads
Scripts
Story titles
Taglines
Branding
Bios
Blurbs
Album covers
8. Programming & Technical – Growing quickly
Thanks to Claude, I can’t imagine many people still manually writing code anymore. The new reality is you’ll be verifying code, checking for errors, and ensuring your Claude isn’t costing you too many tokens!
All kidding aside, as of April 2026, the total number of app releases is up 104% across both app stores compared to the same time last year, and up 89% on iOS alone. It’s never been easier to build an app.
Coding
Python
VBA
Docker
Automation
Chatbots
Debugging
Agent creation
Coding forms
Technical documentation
9. Home & DIY – One of my favourite groups.
So many folks have told me lately that Chat is their new landscape designer or interior decorator. Just take a picture and tell Chat to make me a plan.
Can you imagine next year, you go to your friend’s house, the backyard, it’s beautiful! “Who did your backyard?” and they say, “Oh, ChatGPT and I did it all!”
Renovations
Home design
Backyard patios
Interior decorating
Paint colours
Garden planning
Landscaping
Construction schedules
Building codes
Greenhouses
Sauna design
Hanging pictures
Kitchen renos
10. Personal Advice – Very human (which is obviously ironic!)
I’ve heard great feedback from people who needed a non-biased, non-judgmental sounding board. Not a replacement for real help, but if something is bugging you or if you want to get something off your chest, your AI is waiting to help!
Special shoutout to the person who uses AI for “Responding to my ex”! Whatever makes your life easier!
Relationship advice
Marriage advice
Counselling
Therapy
Life coaching
Emotional support
Parenting
Friendship
Difficult conversations
Responding to my ex
Calm me down
11. Public Speaking – A huge one.
Speeches
Wedding speeches
MC notes
Speaker notes
Presentation rehearsals
Presentation outlines
Storytelling
12. School & Education – Expected.
Homework
Essays
Studying
Lesson plans
Mock exams
Algebra
Tests
Capstones
Schoolwork
13. Health & Fitness
Much larger than people think.
Workout plans
Exercise plans
Diet plans
Meal plans
Medical advice
Medical questions
Blood work
Diagnoses
Health concerns
14. Image & Design – A whole category now.
Some of us will remember when image generation was really bad; then one day everything changed. Gone are the 6-fingered people or the small details you could look for to immediately identify it as an AI image. It’s getting to the point where you really have to know what you’re looking for to spot an AI image. And in the future, we could assume the only way to tell will be by looking at the metadata within the image.
Image generation
Cartoons
Professional headshots
Ghibli
Photo editing
Photo manipulation
Alt text
Logos
Posters
Artwork
Memes
15. General AI Assistant
Can confirm, my Chat is GREAT at brainstorming ideas. Are they all good? Nope! But they’re not supposed to be. They’re ideas to prompt you to think of a better idea that you will settle on.
These people just use AI for…
everything.
My assistant
Everything
Work
Questions
Brainstorming
Ideas
Organizing thoughts
Sounding board
Decision making
Bonus Section – The AI Hall of Fame
These deserve their own page.
Relationships
Fight with my husband
Responding to my ex
Proposal to my wife
Marriage advice
Relationship advice
Dating
Write a breakup text
Animals
Dog into a human
Cats on the beach
Kitty pictures
What Jellycat am I?
Pictures of my dog
Animating my cat
Completely Random
When will the world end?
Make a new species
Roy Rogers
Biggie & Tupac pictures
Corrective sarcasm
Smart assery
Average Google searches
Make a BFF with an NHL star
Taylor Swift logo
Board game rules
Comparing F1 races
Ripeness of watermelon
What my teen says
Lottery numbers
Treasure hunt for my kid
Word domination
Movie poster of my dog
Song lyrics into artwork
Build a paper airplane
Prank phone calls
Make useless haikus
Snappy answers to silly questions
To have a laugh
Be naughty 😆
