OpenAI published LifeVal on November 2, a benchmark that grades AI on everyday responsibilities instead of exams or code: finding childcare, enrolling a child in the right kindergarten, ordering groceries on a budget, managing household finances and getting through government paperwork. The task list was built from the American Time Use Survey, the Multinational Time Use Study and a new survey of 3,995 people on where they most want an assistant's help, across caregiving, health, education, household administration, personal finances, shopping and government services.

The headline score flatters its maker. GPT-6 Astra averaged 80.6% reward, up from 49.3% for GPT-5.2 in December 2025 and 80.0% for GPT-5.6, with example tasks such as organising flood volunteers at 98.0% and diabetes meal prep at 90.4%. OpenAI says it has used LifeVal internally for about a year to track and drive improvement on exactly these tasks.

The limits are structural: OpenAI built the test, chose the tasks, ran the scoring and publishes scores for its own models only, with no independent verification and no opening for third-party models to be graded. An average reward score is also not a share of real-world jobs finished correctly — LifeVal is best read as OpenAI showing which everyday jobs it is optimising ChatGPT for, not as a neutral league table.