A major challenge of our time is reducing disparities in access to and effective use of digital technologies, with recent discussions highlighting the role of AI in exacerbating the digital divide. We examine user characteristics that predict usage of the AI-powered conversational agent ChatGPT. We combine behavioral (web tracking) and survey data of N=1068 German citizens to investigate differences in ChatGPT activity (usage, visits and duration) in a web tracked sample encompassing a period that covered 8 months from the launch of the service. Guided by a model of technology acceptance (UTAUT-2), we examine socio-demographics commonly associated with the digital divide and explore further socio-political attributes identified via stability selection in Lasso regressions. We confirm lower age and higher education to affect ChatGPT usage, but not gender and income. We find full-time employment and more children to be barriers to ChatGPT activity. Rural residence, writing and social media activities, as well as more political knowledge were positively associated with ChatGPT activity. Our research informs efforts to address digital disparities and promote digital literacy among underserved populations by presenting implications, recommendations and ethical and social issues of our findings.

翻译：我们时代的一大挑战是缩小获取和有效使用数字技术的差距，近期讨论强调人工智能在加剧数字鸿沟中的作用。本研究考察了预测AI驱动的对话代理ChatGPT使用的用户特征。我们将N=1068名德国公民的行为（网络追踪）和调查数据相结合，在覆盖服务上线后8个月时段的网络追踪样本中，分析ChatGPT活动的差异（使用、访问次数和时长）。以技术接受模型（UTAUT-2）为指导，我们检验了通常与数字鸿沟相关的社会人口学变量，并通过Lasso回归中的稳定性选择方法探索了进一步的社会政治属性。我们证实较低年龄和较高教育水平影响ChatGPT使用，但性别和收入无显著影响。全职工作和子女数量较多被视为ChatGPT活动的障碍。农村居住地、写作和社交媒体活动以及较高的政治知识与ChatGPT活动呈正相关。我们的研究通过呈现发现的影响、建议及伦理和社会问题，为缩小数字差距、促进弱势群体数字素养的努力提供了参考。