Roy Morgan says 13.6 million Australians aged 14 and over—58% of the population—now use AI platforms, with the overall user base split almost evenly by gender. The market-research firm’s latest figures put men at 50.3% of AI users and women at 49.7%, based on surveys conducted from January through March 2026.
ChatGPT remains the clear leader, used by an estimated 10.5 million Australians. Its audience is also near-evenly divided: 5.3 million women and just under 5.2 million men, according to Roy Morgan.
The aggregate numbers conceal differences between products. Google Gemini, Microsoft Copilot and Anthropic’s Claude each skew male in the research. Roy Morgan estimates Copilot has 2.3 million male users versus 1.7 million female users, while Claude has 459,000 men and 318,000 women.
Canva Magic Studio is the outlier. More than 60% of its roughly 1.37 million Australian users are women—821,000 women compared with 547,000 men. That likely reflects Canva’s established position in design, education and small-business workflows rather than a broad gender difference in AI interest.
For Microsoft, the data is a useful reminder that Copilot’s consumer audience is not necessarily representative of the broader population. A product increasingly embedded in Windows, Microsoft 365 and workplace tooling is drawing a more employment-focused group than general-purpose AI services.
Roy Morgan also found that 51% of AI users are employed full-time, compared with a little over 40% of Australians overall. Copilot and Claude stand out: 63% of Copilot users and 65% of Claude users work full-time.
That employment mix tracks with income and assets. Across all AI users, median personal income was reported at A$67,000, against A$53,000 for the population aged 14 and older. Median savings and investments were A$181,000 for AI users versus A$149,000 overall.
Copilot users reported a median income of A$87,000 and median savings and investments of A$281,000; Claude users reported A$90,000 and A$240,000 respectively. These figures describe correlations in survey data, not evidence that use of either AI service raises income or wealth.
The practical next step for IT teams is to measure actual Copilot usage in their own tenant and pair adoption efforts with clear data-handling, training and acceptable-use policies.
ChatGPT remains the clear leader, used by an estimated 10.5 million Australians. Its audience is also near-evenly divided: 5.3 million women and just under 5.2 million men, according to Roy Morgan.
Platform choice still shows a gender divide
The aggregate numbers conceal differences between products. Google Gemini, Microsoft Copilot and Anthropic’s Claude each skew male in the research. Roy Morgan estimates Copilot has 2.3 million male users versus 1.7 million female users, while Claude has 459,000 men and 318,000 women.Canva Magic Studio is the outlier. More than 60% of its roughly 1.37 million Australian users are women—821,000 women compared with 547,000 men. That likely reflects Canva’s established position in design, education and small-business workflows rather than a broad gender difference in AI interest.
For Microsoft, the data is a useful reminder that Copilot’s consumer audience is not necessarily representative of the broader population. A product increasingly embedded in Windows, Microsoft 365 and workplace tooling is drawing a more employment-focused group than general-purpose AI services.
Students and full-time workers lead adoption
Students represent 21% of all AI users, and university students are 27% more likely to use AI platforms than the general Australian population. More than one million university students use ChatGPT, well ahead of Gemini at 444,000 and Copilot at 287,000.Roy Morgan also found that 51% of AI users are employed full-time, compared with a little over 40% of Australians overall. Copilot and Claude stand out: 63% of Copilot users and 65% of Claude users work full-time.
That employment mix tracks with income and assets. Across all AI users, median personal income was reported at A$67,000, against A$53,000 for the population aged 14 and older. Median savings and investments were A$181,000 for AI users versus A$149,000 overall.
Copilot users reported a median income of A$87,000 and median savings and investments of A$281,000; Claude users reported A$90,000 and A$240,000 respectively. These figures describe correlations in survey data, not evidence that use of either AI service raises income or wealth.
What it means for Windows users
For Windows administrators and Microsoft 365 teams, the findings reinforce that Copilot’s strongest audience is currently the full-time workforce, where Microsoft’s endpoint and productivity stack already has a foothold. Student use remains dominated by ChatGPT, so institutions rolling out Copilot should not assume availability translates into habitual use.The practical next step for IT teams is to measure actual Copilot usage in their own tenant and pair adoption efforts with clear data-handling, training and acceptable-use policies.
References
- Primary source: Roy Morgan Research
Published: 2026-07-14T05:50:09.023799
AI usage shows an even gender split but gender differences emerge in platform choices - Roy Morgan Research
New research from Roy Morgan shows that AI users are almost evenly split between men (50.3%) and women (49.7%). Overall, there are 6.8 million male users and 6.7 million female users.
www.roymorgan.com
