New survey data suggests people are increasingly using artificial intelligence not just for productivity, but to recover personal histories once thought lost.
Artificial intelligence is becoming a new tool for remembering. New research conducted by Use.AI, based on responses from 13,240 adults across the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe, and Latin America, suggests digital nostalgia is emerging as one of AI’s most emotionally driven use cases.
According to the findings, 72% of respondents said they had used AI tools to restore, edit, or organise old photos or videos. The data points to a shift in how people view consumer AI: less as a workplace assistant and more as a way to preserve family history, recover damaged archives, and reconnect with earlier versions of their lives.
The findings suggest AI is reshaping how individuals engage with analogue-era media. Instead of leaving faded photographs in boxes or low-resolution files forgotten on old devices, users are increasingly turning to AI tools to sharpen images, repair visible damage, colourise archival photographs, and sort memories into searchable timelines.
According to the research, 64% of respondents said they had restored photos previously considered unusable because of blur, fading, or physical deterioration. Nearly 58% said they had shared AI-restored memories on social platforms, indicating that personal archives are becoming social artefacts rather than private storage.
The emotional case for AI adoption was clear throughout the survey. While public debate around artificial intelligence often focuses on automation and efficiency, 61% of respondents said their main reason for using AI photo or video tools was emotional preservation rather than convenience.
Generational differences were also evident. Respondents aged 25 to 34 were the most likely to restore childhood images, while those aged 45 and older reported the highest use for digitising and organising physical photo collections. A further 47% said AI helped them rediscover images they had not viewed in more than a decade.
The trend is beginning to extend beyond still images. Ihor Herasymov, Managing Director at Use.AI, said the findings suggest AI is taking on a more personal role in everyday digital life. “For years, consumer AI has largely been framed around speed and productivity. What we are seeing now is a different kind of adoption; people are using these tools to reconnect with family history, preserve identity, and recover memories that felt inaccessible.”
Around 39% of respondents said they had used AI to enhance or stabilise older video footage, while 42% said they would consider using AI to reconstruct missing visual details in incomplete archives.
Taken together, the findings point to a broader cultural shift in which AI is becoming part of how memory is stored, revisited, and shared. As digital archives continue to replace physical ones, artificial intelligence is moving beyond futuristic novelty and into something more personal: helping people recover moments they feared were gone.
About Use.AI:
Use.AI is a universal AI assistant designed to provide instant access to the world’s most advanced large language models, including ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, DeepSeek, and others, all within a single interface. It supports personal, professional, and creative problem-solving through a clean, minimalist design with voice, image, and file input, enabling users to delegate cognitive tasks, plan, learn, and communicate more effectively. Founded in 2025, Use.AI aims to make AI-powered assistance accessible and practical for everyday life.
Media Contact:
Alex Samuels
PR Manager
Use.AI
pr@use.ai
Alex Samuels
PR Manager
Use.AI
pr@use.ai