In August of this year, global user traffic for the widely-used artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot, ChatGPT, experienced its third consecutive monthly decline, according to analytics firm Similarweb.
During August, global traffic from desktop and mobile websites to OpenAI's popular chatbot decreased by 3.2%, totaling 1.43 billion visits. This decline comes after a 10% drop in traffic just two months prior. Furthermore, the average time spent on the site decreased slightly from 8.7 minutes to 7 minutes in August.
Interestingly, there was a slight uptick of 0.4% in visits from users in the United States during August. While the site's unique visitor numbers had seen significant reductions in June and July, they grew by 3% within the US and by 0.3% globally during August.
David F. Carr, the senior insights manager at Similarweb, who authored the report, suggested that this fluctuation in user numbers could be related to students, who may have been using the platform for academic purposes, returning to school over the summer. Carr noted , "Students seeking help with homework appear to be part of the story: The site's share of younger users fell over the summer but is now starting to rebound."
This theory aligns with a decline in viewership observed during the summer months among ChatGPT users in the 18- to 24-year-old age group, both in the US and globally. For US users aged 18-24, traffic dropped by 10% in May (around the end of the US college semester), 15% in June, and an additional 4% in July. Notably, at its peak in April, this age group represented 30% of the total US audience share. A survey conducted by Intelligence.com in May 2023, involving 1,223 undergraduate and graduate students in the United States, found that 30% of respondents admitted to using ChatGPT to assist them with assignments during the academic year.
The survey revealed that 46% of these students use the tool "often" for homework, and one in eight claimed that their GPAs had improved as a direct result of their use of the AI chatbot. It's worth noting that currently, there are no comprehensive regulations governing the use of artificial intelligence tools at American universities. However, in Japan, the Ministry of Education has publicly disclosed its plans to permit limited use of generative AI tools in elementary, junior high, and high schools.
