ChatGPT traffic spikes as students return to school

Students are back to school and back to ChatGPT for homework help.

At least that's the theory for a slight boost in web traffic according to digital data and analytics company Similarweb. In its report, visits to chat.openai.com increased by 0.4 percent in August — but only in the U.S. Globally, traffic dropped, but only by 3 percent. Similarlweb suggests that ChatGPT traffic is finally leveling out after dropping in traffic for three months in a row (domestically and globally).

The uptick and possible plateauing of traffic for ChatGPT as school starts would make sense since it lines up with the student age demographics. "In the U.S., traffic dropped 10 percent in May, 15 percent in June, and another 4 percent in July," said David F. Carr in the report, which used college age students as a proxy for students in general. "While over those same months the percentage of users in the 18-24 year age bracket – which had been pushing 30 percent in April – dropped to less than 27 percent by July."

Clearly, students are a strong user base for the AI chatbot, which has stirred controversy because of plagiarism in school. Some educators have embraced ChatGPT use by students for research and as a tool for writing exercises — as OpenAI ever-so-helpfully suggests.

It's crazy to think, but ChatGPT was released less than a year ago, so it's still early days for schools navigating a new normal where essays and answers can get generated within seconds by the chatbot. Whatever happens, as the numbers suggests, ChatGPT is becoming a mainstay for students.