AI Vitals: the real ROI of AI is time

Are we creating experiences and products that align with what 81,000 people want from AI? Last week Anthropic released their latest global research study, the largest and most multilingual qualitative study of its kind ever conducted. A Claude interviewer engaged in raw, unfiltered conversations with 80,508 people across 159 countries and in 70 different languages.  

The findings revealed a deeper, connecting insight beyond the expected outcomes. While professional excellence came out as the leading aspiration, this isn’t about users wanting more from AI, it’s about what AI can give them more of in their lives. Users see the real productivity gains from AI as being in service of more time, confidence, independence, and freedom gained in their personal lives.  

“For the first time, I felt AI had surpassed human quality in a business task. That day I left work on time and picked up my daughter from daycare.” - Software Engineer, Japan  

This research has reinforced an important question for us at MSQ DX: how are we discovering, designing and building products and experiences that are in service of your customers time, confidence, and independence? Translating digital experience into commercial impact means connecting customers to the outcomes that matter most to them, not just completing a transaction.  

Whether it's enabling a seamless flight change for a businesswoman trying to make it home in time for her son's 5^th birthday or resolving a Wi-Fi connection issue through a self-service portal online so that a daughter doesn’t miss their weekly FaceTime with family.  

Technology’s greatest purpose has always been in service of more human connection. Three questions worth asking: Does your experience reduce friction in a way that actually gives people time back? Does it build confidence, or create dependency? And does it create the conditions for the human moments that matter most?

Getting that right, we believe, is the clearest path from digital investment to lasting commercial impact.