AI's Shocking Pivot: From Work Tool To Digital Therapist And Life Coach

The way artificial intelligence is applied may be unexpected. Initially, many of us might think it was mainly used for creative and technical tasks, such as writing code and creating content.

However, a recent survey reported by Harvard Business Review shows that this is not the case. Most users seek artificial intelligence not just for work, but for support, organization, and even friendship!

The report said that the first of AI application cases is treatment and companionship. This shows that its 24/7 availability and the ability to provide anonymous, honest advice and feedback are of great value.

On the other hand, marketing tasks (such as writing a blog, creating social media posts, or advertising copy) rank much lower on the popular use list.

Why is this? Let’s look at the research results and their hints about how we humans continue to incorporate artificial intelligence into life and work.

Insight and revelation

It’s obvious that while generative AI is perfectly capable of doing it for us to relax and rest, many prefer to use it to inspire creativity and brainstorm.

This may be attributed to the quality of artificial intelligence-generated materials, or even human-inherent bias, that makes us reluctant to consume content created by robots. It is often pointed out that the writing style of generative artificial intelligence can appear very bland and boring. When asked, most people still say they would rather read what humans create. Even in reality, we don't always tell the difference.

As report author Marc Zao-Sanders said: “The top 10 generative AI use cases of 2025 show that application focus has shifted from technology to emotion, especially in areas such as therapy, personal efficiency and personal development.”

After treatment and companionship, the most common uses of generative AI are “organizing my life,” “finding goals,” and “enhanced learning.”

The first technical use case, “Create Code”, ranks fifth in the list, followed by “Stimulate Creativity.”

This subverts some of our seemingly common sense assumptions about how society adopts generative AI, suggesting that it will be used in a more reflective and introspective way than it was originally predicted.

In particular, it may be surprising that therapeutic uses top the list. But it makes more sense given the shortage of professionals who have been professionally trained to help us cope with mental health challenges around the world.

The findings are supported by a variety of emerging generative AI applications designed for therapeutic uses, such as Wysa, Youper, and Woebot.

The growing demand for continuous learning and skills improvement in the face of technological advances also explains why using artificial intelligence to enhance our education and professional development is so popular.

Overall, these insights suggest that generative AI is being applied to a wider aspect of everyday life, not just to do the work we don’t want to do ourselves.

Future Outlook

The current trajectory of artificial intelligence uses shows that in the future, artificial intelligence will be seen as a collaborative and supportive assistant rather than a replacement for human quality and capabilities.

This is of great significance to the way it is used in business. Using it to support the use cases of human employees rather than trying to replace them may result in employees happier, less stressful and ultimately more productive.

There is growing evidence that businesses see investing in AI-based mental health partners and chatbots as a way to alleviate the loss of productivity caused by stress and anxiety.

With the continuous evolution of generative artificial intelligence, we can expect it to do better in these types of tasks. Personalized health support, guided learning and educational opportunities, organizational workflows and inspiring creativity are all areas where it can create great value for many organizations while eliminating the anxiety that it will replace us or make us redundant.

If we want to influence the future of AI, it is crucial to understand how AI is being used today. While it’s easy to imagine a world where robots take over all of our tasks, the real opportunity lies in leveraging artificial intelligence to help us work smarter, collaborate more effectively, and support healthier, more balanced ways of working.

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