Indian Women Turn to AI for Everyday Relief — and a New Sense of Control
For Bengaluru resident Priyanshi Durbha, artificial intelligence stopped being a buzzword the day it entered her kitchen. The 37-year-old technology consultant had spent over a decade helping companies adopt AI tools, but one weekend earlier this year, while juggling grocery lists and meal planning for her marathon-running husband and fussy five-year-old, she turned to ChatGPT for help.
“When it threw up a tabular plan for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, I pinned it to the fridge and thought, ‘I can conquer the world,’” she recalls.
Her experience captures a growing trend among India’s urban working women, who are using AI to ease the mental load of balancing careers, caregiving, and household management. According to Microsoft and LinkedIn’s 2024 Work Trend Index, 92% of India’s skilled workforce now uses AI at work — well above the global average of 75%. India is also OpenAI’s second-largest market after the United States, highlighting its role in everyday digital life.
Everyday AI: Companions, Not Just Tools
Experts say women are uniquely improvising with AI to manage overlapping responsibilities. “These tools have become companions, not just conveniences,” says Payal Arora, an Amsterdam-based digital cultures researcher. “They help women sustain themselves in a system that still expects them to manage family, in-laws, and professional work without missing a beat.”
Mumbai-based content creator Stuti Agarwal, 37, describes her mental load as “having too many browser tabs open; close one, another pops up.” Using AI, she now automates everyday decisions — summarising school circulars, drafting polite messages to teachers, and converting grocery lists into meal plans.
In Lucknow, 35-year-old maternity photographer Galaxy Arora Seth uses generative tools to design age-appropriate games, plan content for clients, and manage her children’s meals. “I feel calmer, more creative, and more in control since using AI,” she says.
Filling Gaps That Policy Leaves Open
There is no public data yet on how Indian women use AI at home, but researchers see a clear trend. “For those women who do use AI tools at home, the technology fills gaps that policy and social norms leave wide open,” Arora notes. For many, the attraction lies in AI’s neutrality. “I like ChatGPT because it doesn’t judge,” says Agarwal. “You can tell it you’re feeling low and then ask how to bake a cake for your son’s birthday the next moment.”
Delhi-based psychologist Divija Bhasin says automating minor cognitive tasks can reduce stress and improve well-being. “By outsourcing the small things, women reclaim mental space and time,” she explains.
Cultural Limits and Privacy Concerns
Yet AI’s usefulness comes with caveats. “AI can’t capture the cultural nuances of my cooking, the regional flavours and family recipes I grew up with,” says Durbha, who recalls asking ChatGPT for cucumber recipes only to receive a list of Western-style salads. “If I wasn’t relying on it, I’d have made my mum’s dish instead.”
OpenAI itself has acknowledged these shortcomings. In its November report, the company admitted that even advanced models like GPT-5 still struggle with culturally specific knowledge in India, from food traditions to regional languages.
Privacy, too, remains a pressing concern. Arora warns that many women use chatbots in a “quasi-therapeutic” way, often sharing personal details about their homes, children, or health. Although India’s 2023 Digital Personal Data Protection Act grants users rights to access, correct, and erase personal data, it excludes “personal or domestic” use.
“The moment you type your child’s name, school timings, or health issues into ChatGPT, that exemption doesn’t apply anymore,” explains Delhi-based privacy lawyer Vijayant Singh. While users may technically have data rights, retrieving information once it has been used to train AI systems “can be difficult in practice,” he adds.
Balancing Caution and Curiosity
Experts agree that striking a balance is essential. “What would be very damaging is to underestimate the value AI brings to these women and focus only on the risks,” says Arora. For women like Durbha, the technology is not just about convenience but empowerment — an invisible helping hand that lightens the load of modern life without judgement.
with inputs from Reuters