In its 2025 Principal Discussions report, JPMorgan asked 111 billionaire clients across 28 countries how they use AI. Out of a group whose combined net worth climbs over $500 billion, 79 percent said they use the tool in their personal lives, and 69 percent said they use it professionally.
Of course, many reported instances are more mainstream, like writing, planning travel, and analyzing data. But other use cases make it clear that this demographic is taking advantage of AI for more than just administrative tasks. And they’re being smart about it.
One client said they were able to save $100,000 in legal research using an AI-generated report. Another wants to build a plane, so they elicited the help of AI to design a blueprint.
“The currency of life is time. It is not money,” said one interviewee. “You think carefully about how you spend one dollar. You should think just as carefully as how you spend one hour.”
Another respondent told JPMorgan they use AI like “a toy” to write bedtime stories for their son that always have “an emotional twist at the end.”
One family collected voice recordings from older family members and is now working with an AI team to create holograms of them for future generations.
A few clients mentioned hopping on flights to take AI courses on Ivy League campuses, sometimes with their whole families.
“It’s exciting,” one person said. “Technology has changed the world, and AI is a new shift that will further enhance these advancements.”
But they admitted it’s not all fun and games. Seven percent of respondents included AI/machine learning as one of the top five risks in today’s global environment. That makes the issue number two after geopolitical tensions.
According to Business Insider, the energy being harnessed through AI data centers threatens sustainable energy targets, and the cost of public health due to air pollution could reach $9.2 billion annually.
Some billionaire respondents said they don’t use AI tools at all. They do business via phone calls, stay away from computers, and “rely on manual calculation or intuition.”
“It’s pretty scary,” one respondent said. “You already start seeing it behaving on its own, with lack of regulation. The risks are really high.”
Ava Levinson
Source link