New research from Microsoft reveals that over half of British people (53 per cent) feel overwhelmed and uninspired during the Christmas period, often having to cut back on the personal touches and traditions that make the holidays magical.
To help bring back the joy and creativity of the season, Microsoft and Harpreet have joined forces to showcase how AI tools, including Copilot+, can empower consumers to reclaim their time, rediscover inspiration and elevate their holiday celebrations.
The 2022 winner of the BBC business TV show - which is fronted by Lord Alan Sugar - said: "Running my own business means that I don’t have much time to go the extra mile during the holiday season. This year I've been using AI to help me find new recipes and fun things to do with my loved ones, and it is transformed the way I’m approaching this year’s festivities, making them more thoughtful and personalised than ever before."
The study, conducted by Microsoft, highlights that when the festive preparations become too much, the main things that people cut back on are decorating the home (69 per cent), shopping for thoughtful gifts (65 per cent) and prepping the food in advance (58 per cent) whilst some do without personalising gifts and cards (29 per cent), finding new recipes to enjoy (29 per cent) and looking for activities such as festive markets (29 per cent).
Holiday preparations can be time consuming, with half (49 per cent) of us starting the work in October and by December, 26 per cent of us are spending between four and six hours a week in planning for Christmas. It’s no surprise therefore that almost a third (28 per cent) spend their holidays doing the same thing every year, but 29 per cent want it to be less stressful and more creative.
Whilst Britons value family time (49 per cent), and feeling relaxed (39 per cent), three quarters of Brits (75 per cent) say their festive highlight is seeing a loved one’s reaction to a personal gift, and 66 per cent of us value the importance of thoughtfulness and personalisation most. However, this overload and lack of time during the holidays means this is what people are skipping out on most. No wonder over half of us (57%) wish we had more time to make the festive period more personalised and meaningful.
To help overcome these hurdles, 55 per cent of people cite they are already using AI or would like to use AI to help them with their festive planning. The top tasks that Brits would use AI for this Christmas are for finding unique gifts (43 per cent), keeping on top of tasks (42 per cent) and finding exciting new recipe ideas (41 per cent).
Some of Harpreet's top tips for creating a memorable Christmas if time isn't on your side include prioritising one or two meaningful traditions so it doesn’t take up too much time or feel overwhelming, making a moment for wrapping by multitasking with something you enjoy such as watching your favourite festive film and personalising your Christmas cards with Copilot+ PCs, which allow you to create unique and heartfelt messages for your cards from wording to design ideas.
Microsoft’s latest research represents a ground-breaking and significant step forward in AI-integrated computing, following this year’s launch of Copilot+ PCs. Head to Microsoft.com and discover more.
