Three years ago, on November 30, 2022, OpenAI launched ChatGPT. Hot on the heels of its viral image generator DALL-E, the Sam Altman-helmed company’s chatbot quickly attracted millions of visitors and was heralded as a transformative technology.
Today, ChatGPT has some 800 million weekly users, and supports more than 20 languages. After the U.S., countries including India, Brazil, Indonesia and the Philippines are among its biggest and fastest growing markets. Here’s a look at ChatGPT’s remarkable global impact.
Work
Almost as soon as ChatGPT launched, experts began predicting waves of AI-fueled job losses. By 2023, some of the first casualties were becoming clear: illustrators, web developers, translators, and freelancers in places like Kenya who write essays for American college students.
At the same time, workers are using it in more productive ways: In Indonesia’s film industry, ChatGPT is used in scripting, while farmers in Malawi use a chatbot that runs on ChatGPT for instant advice in their own language. And in Colombia, 85% of judges use free versions of ChatGPT or Microsoft Copilot to help them with their work. The tool allows judges to close cases faster — and lawyers to quickly open more.
Education
It wasn’t long before schools started integrating ChatGPT into the curriculum. This school in India uses ChatGPT and other AI resources to conduct research, and students then share their reflections in class. An AI project in Mali uses the software to translate learning materials into local languages, to help young students learn faster and stay in school.
Dozens of new AI training startups in Africa are offering online courses, hackathons, and job placement help.
Elsewhere, implementation of AI in education hasn’t been as smooth. South Korea’s AI learning program was rolled back after just four months, following complaints from teachers, students, and parents about inaccuracies, data privacy risks, and increased workload.
Healthcare
One of the most common uses for ChatGPT worldwide is health-related queries. In South Korea, this is taken one step further, with ChatGPT-powered robot dolls used as companions for older adults. The dolls strike up conversations, remind seniors to take their medication, and send alerts during emergencies.
Elections
In 2024, a year in which more than 2 billion people in 50 countries globally went to vote, ChatGPT was used in campaigns to reach voters across language barriers. AI companies made millions producing election content in India. More than 170 phony X accounts used ChatGPT to write posts to meddle in Ghana’s presidential election.
Rest of World tracked the most noteworthy incidents of AI-generated election content globally in our 2024 AI Elections Tracker. These included the use of AI for both playful memes and serious misinformation, showcasing its power to reshape narratives and engage voters.
Language
While ChatGPT excels in widely spoken languages like English, Spanish, and Japanese, it struggles with Bengali, Swahili, Urdu, and Thai — languages that have millions of speakers, but appear much less often online. Rest of World tested ChatGPT’s ability to respond in underrepresented languages, and found problems reaching far beyond translation errors, including fabricated words, illogical answers and, in some cases, complete nonsense – a challenge for AI moderation.
As a result, many non-English speakers have taken it upon themselves to create their own GPT-like LLMs. These include projects in Indonesia, where over 700 languages are spoken, and the Philippines, where developers are building ITanong, a ChatGPT rival that speaks Filipino and Taglish. In Latin America, Chile is leading the effort to create Latam-GPT, and in Nigeria, the little-known startup Awarri has been tapped to build the first government-supported LLM. Some startups, like this one in Mongolia, are working to develop their own LLMs both to increase representation for scarce languages and to reduce reliance on models like GPT.
China
ChatGPT is not officially available in China. OpenAI has blocked Chinese users from registering for accounts, but that hasn’t stopped tech-savvy users from accessing the service through VPNs or buying overseas phone numbers to sign up. Some developers have built websites that directly integrate ChatGPT’s API into their own products, offering users guidance on everything from drafting work reports to relationship advice.
China also developed new AI models including Qwen, which garnered a lot of high-profile clients in 2024. The launch of DeepSeek’s model earlier this year, which achieved performance levels comparable to those of leading Western competitors but at a much lower cost, stunned the world. Since DeepSeek’s launch, a swathe of Chinese companies — including automakers and appliance firms — have joined the frenzy to incorporate the homegrown AI model into their products and services.
