It's About Time: The Temporal and Modal Dynamics of Copilot Usage

2025-12-07

AI Summary

This study investigates the spatiotemporal behavioral patterns of users interacting with Microsoft Copilot across devices (mobile vs. desktop) and time dimensions. Leveraging 37.5 million anonymized dialogues, we apply temporal pattern mining, cross-device behavioral comparison, topic modeling, and temporal clustering to systematically characterize the dynamicity and modality adaptivity of AI usage—marking the first such comprehensive analysis. Results reveal: mobile usage peaks in health-related queries, exhibiting strong everyday-life contextualization; desktop interactions—predominantly work-oriented—concentrate between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., with programming, gaming, philosophical reflection, and emotional support showing distinct diurnal, weekly, and holiday-based rhythms. The findings demonstrate that device modality and temporal context jointly shape user intent, moving beyond static topic-centric paradigms. Empirically, AI has become deeply embedded across contexts: desktops serve as productivity hubs, while smartphones function as life companions. We further identify temporally specific topic usage patterns across multiple domains.

Technology Category

• Humans and AI: User Experience and Usability
• Data Mining & Knowledge Management: Mining of Spatial, Temporal or Spatio-Temporal Data
• Planning, Routing, and Scheduling: Temporal Planning

Application Category

• User Modeling, Personalization and Recommendation: Studies of user behavior, including longitudinal effects of personalized systems
• Semantics and Knowledge: Data modeling to support human-machine intelligence, including LLMs agents, intelligent system behavior, explanations, and user-friendly interactions
• Search and Retrieval-Augmented AI: Personalized, context-aware and across-device search

Abstract

We analyze 37.5 million deidentified conversations with Microsoft's Copilot between January and September 2025. Unlike prior analyses of AI usage, we focus not just on what people do with AI, but on how and when they do it. We find that how people use AI depends fundamentally on context and device type. On mobile, health is the dominant topic, which is consistent across every hour and every month we observed - with users seeking not just information but also advice. On desktop, the pattern is strikingly different: work and technology dominate during business hours, with "Work and Career" overtaking "Technology" as the top topic precisely between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. These differences extend to temporal rhythms: programming queries spike on weekdays while gaming rises on weekends, philosophical questions climb during late-night hours, and relationship conversations surge on Valentine's Day. These patterns suggest that users have rapidly integrated AI into the full texture of their lives, as a work aid at their desks and a companion on their phones.

Problem

• Analyzes temporal and device-based usage patterns of Microsoft Copilot.
• Compares mobile versus desktop AI usage topics and temporal rhythms.
• Investigates how context influences AI integration into daily life.

Innovation

• Analyzes temporal patterns in AI usage across devices
• Identifies context-dependent topic variations by time
• Reveals AI integration into daily life rhythms