I went a full week using only the free tiers of AI tools, and here’s what I actually missed

You’ll occasionally meet someone who doesn’t use Spotify or Netflix (or their equivalents). Perhaps they prefer going old-school and using cable TV and DVDs, or they just don’t have the time to sit through another TV show. Fair enough. But try finding someone in 2026 who doesn’t use any AI tools. Note the word I used in the sentence before was use, not pay for. Unlike Netflix and Amazon Prime, which require a subscription to even access it, almost everyone is using AI in some form or the other. It’s baked into your search engine, the apps you rely on daily, your photo gallery, and so on.

The real divide in 2026 isn’t really between users using AI and users avoiding it like it’s the plague anymore. It was up until a few months ago, back when using AI was itself the choice. Now, it’s within how the average person drafts emails, summarizes meetings, plans trips, debugs code, and even figures out what the weird cold they’ve had for two weeks might actually be. The divide is now between those getting by on the free tier and those paying for the premium experience. So, I decided to test that line. For one full week, I stripped away every paid AU subscription and lived entirely on free tiers.