Australian women are adopting AI at virtually the same rate as men, challenging the perception that it is predominantly a male technology.

New Roy Morgan research shows the nation’s 13.6 million AI users are split almost evenly between men (6.8 million) and women (6.7 million).

The gender balance is also reflected in the users of ChatGPT.  Women slightly outnumber men, accounting for 50.6% of ChatGPT’s estimated 10.5 million Australian users.

Across other AI platforms, however, the preferences change significantly.

Google Gemini, Microsoft Copilot and Anthropic’s Claude all have predominantly male user bases. Google Gemini has around 2.8 million male users compared with 2.1 million women, while Microsoft Copilot counts 2.3 million men and 1.7 million women. Claude also skews male, with 459,000 men using the platform compared with 318,000 women.

Australian software company Canva is the exception with more than 60% of Canva Magic Studio users being women. The platform has 821,000 female users compared with 547,000 men, making it the only major AI platform with a clear female majority.

Beyond gender, the Roy Morgan research highlights university students as one of the fastest-growing AI demographics.

Students account for 21% of all AI users, with university students 27% more likely to use AI than the broader population. More than one million university students now use ChatGPT in particular. 

Source: Roy Morgan Single Source, January – March 2026. Base: Australians 14+, n=14,646.

The data also reveals AI’s popularity among Australia’s higher income earners.

More than half of all AI users are employed full-time with the median annual personal income for AI users being $67,000, around 26% higher than the national average ($53,000).

Microsoft Copilot and Claude users had the highest incomes, with median annual earnings of $87,000 and $90,000 respectively. These users also report the highest levels of savings and investments, with median holdings of $281,000 for Copilot users and $240,000 for Claude users.

Source: Roy Morgan Single Source, January – March 2026. Base: Australians 14+, n=14,646.

Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine said the Australian AI market has rapidly diversified since generative AI entered the mainstream.

“While ChatGPT remains the dominant platform, the research shows individual AI services are increasingly attracting different demographic groups,” Levine said.

“The gender balance across the overall AI market is remarkably even, but platform preferences vary considerably, with Canva attracting a predominantly female audience while Microsoft Copilot, Google Gemini and Claude all skew towards male users.”

Levine said university students remained one of the most important growth markets for AI providers, while the data also showed AI users generally have higher incomes, greater savings and stronger workforce participation than the broader Australian population.