The AI Chatbots We Use Most, and How We Use Them

If you have a particular artificial intelligence tool that you tend to try first every time you’re in need of an AI assist, you’re not alone. According to a new survey, 91% of people who use AI have a favorite chatbot they try first, whether it’s ChatGPT, Gemini, Alexa or something else.

A Menlo Ventures survey of 5,000 adults found that this “default tool dynamic” means most people using AI have chosen a general AI tool they’ll try first for every job, even if it’s not necessarily the best tool for the job.

In the report, ChatGPT is the AI assistant that tops default tools, with 28% of respondents choosing it first. It’s followed by Google’s Gemini at 23%, Meta AI and Amazon’s Alexa, both at 18% and Apple’s Siri at 16%. Other tools including Claude, Grok and Perplexity collectively make up another 33%.

Some of the most common ways people are using these AI tools include composing emails and other writing support, researching topics of interest and managing to-do lists, according to Menlo Ventures.

Some of that, Menlo Ventures says, is “first-mover advantage,” with tools like ChatGPT having built up a following by being the first to offer some chatbot and image-generation features. But, the company warns, “that position is not guaranteed,” with challengers moving fast.

“The consumer market for [large language models] is still nascent and far from saturated,” the report says, “leaving ample room for product innovation to shift market share over time.”

Overall, 61% of Americans have used AI in the last six months and nearly 1 in 5, 19%, rely on it daily, the report says.