OpenAI Launches LifeVal to Measure Everyday AI Tasks

OpenAI has outlined LifeVal, an evaluation framework designed to measure how effectively AI assistants help users with everyday responsibilities and complete real-world tasks. Positioned around ChatGPT’s more than one billion weekly users, the initiative reflects a shift from testing knowledge alone toward assessing practical support, decision guidance and follow-through across areas such as caregiving, health, education, household administration, personal finances, shopping and government services. To define the benchmark, OpenAI drew on the American Time Use Survey and the Multinational Time Use Study, adding a demographically representative survey of 3,995 respondents to identify where people most want AI assistance. The resulting task set is intended to track model improvements over time and support the development of personal agents that can move beyond chat responses to actions such as researching options, organizing plans, calculating costs and preparing schedules. OpenAI framed the work as part of its broader mission to ensure artificial general intelligence benefits humanity, arguing that progress should be measured by how well systems reduce daily friction and deliver meaningful outcomes for ordinary users. LifeVal therefore functions both as a benchmark and a product-design signal, encouraging the creation of assistants capable of practical, reliable help in the routines that shape people's lives.