Tools and Technologies AI Creators Should Know: January 2026 Summary
Creator's Palette Trend Report Vol. 1
February-March 2026: What is happening in cafes?
--Places for thinking x Tools for thinking
Subtitle: Why people who want to think alone have started gathering in cafes
☕ The cafe landscape has changed
On a weekend in late February, looking out at the cafe windows, a slightly unusual scene unfolds.
People with coffee in one hand and laptops open. But what they are looking at is not work documents, nor social media, but screens switching between Notion and ChatGPT.
"How should I organize this note?" "Why do I like this cafe?" "What do I want to start in the spring?"
Using both Notion and AI, they are facing themselves.
🪑 Cafes have become "places for thinking"
Traditional cafes:
📸 Places for "Instagrammability" (take photos and leave)
💬 Places for chatting (meeting friends)
⏰ Places to kill time (passing time)
Cafes in 2026:
⏱️ Long stays (1-3 hours)
🧘 Concentrating alone (but not isolated)
💭 Places to generate thoughts
Reasons for the change
1. The establishment of remote work
🏠 Home = Living space (difficult to concentrate)
🏢 Office = Workspace (monitored)
☕ Cafe = Third space (freedom, moderate sense of tension)
2. Adapting to long stays
In urban work-friendly cafes, power outlets and Wi-Fi are becoming almost standard prerequisites, and an increasing number of stores are adopting seating layouts and pricing structures designed for stays of several hours.
3. Rediscovering the 'value of solitude'
👥 Being with people = Tiring
😔 Completely alone = Lonely
☕ Alone time at a cafe = Just right
💬 'I want to be alone. But I don't want to be completely alone. The answer was a cafe.'
🤖 AI has become a 'thinking partner'
Conventional AI (Google Search):
🔍 Question → Answer (one-way)
📖 A tool for 'looking things up'
2026 AI (ChatGPT/Claude, etc.):
💬 Dialogue → Thinking (two-way)
🧠 A partner for 'thinking'
Reasons for the change
1. Explosive growth in AI usage
In 2025, AI-related posts on social media increased from 15.2 million at the start of the year to 25.8 million. This marks a growth of approximately 1.7 times. Globally, ChatGPT alone reached 800 million weekly users (as of 2025), and it is spreading rapidly, particularly in business and creative fields.
Globally, ChatGPT alone reached 800 million weekly users (as of 2025), and it is spreading rapidly, particularly in business and creative fields.
The number of people using generative AI for information retrieval has also increased from 9.7% to 28.8% in just one year,a nearly threefoldincrease.
2. Changes in Usage
📝 In addition to efficiency-focused tasks like writing and summarizing,
💡 Uses that support thinking, such as "brainstorming," "organizing thoughts through dialogue," and "self-understanding," are also spreading.
3. The Perfect Distance
👤 Human friends:
Being judged (scary)
Walking on eggshells (tiring)
But warm
🤖 AI companions:
Not being judged (reassuring)
No need to walk on eggshells (easy)
But not cold either
This "just right" distance resonates with the "just right" space of a cafe.
💬 "Use AI not to get answers, but to think."
💡 What is happening with Cafe x AI
5 typical scenes
1. 😶🌫️ Articulating vague feelings
"I've been feeling a bit off lately"
↓ ☕ Launching Claude at a cafe
↓ 💬 The cause becomes clear through dialogue
↓ 💡 "Ah, I don't feel meaning in my work"
✨ Feeling refreshed + seeing the next step
2. 🌸 Organizing Spring Goals
"I want to start something this spring, but what?"
↓ ☕ ChatGPT dialogue at a cafe
↓ 🎯 Clarifying what I really want to do
↓ 📝 Seeing a concrete first step
✨ Excitement + A step toward action
3. 🏞️ Deepening Experiences
"I love this cafe, but why?"
↓ ☕ Gemini dialogue on the spot
↓ 🔍 Verbalizing spatial elements
↓ 💡 "The ceiling height, light, sound, and materials are exquisite"
✨ Deeper understanding + Higher quality Instagram posts
4. 📚 Deepening Reading
"What stuck with me from this book?"
↓ ☕ Perplexity dialogue at a cafe
↓ 🔗 Discovering connections to my own life
↓ 💡 "It overlaps with who I was at that time"
✨ Deep learning + Integration into life
5. 📓 Deepening Notion Notes
Fragmented notes accumulated in Notion.
"I had a good idea back then, but what was it?"
↓ ☕ Open Notion at a cafe
↓ 💬 Throw a note I'm curious about at the AI: "What was I trying to say with this note?"
↓ 🤖 AI brings out the background and relevance
↓ 💡 "Oh, so that's what this means!"
✨ Fragments become structure + Notion gets organized
Commonality: "Feeling" → "Thinking" → "Putting into words"
This process is supported by Cafe × AI.
📱 The choice of Instagram × Cafe × AI
If you are starting Instagram posts from February or March, riding this trend is effective.
📊 Trends by the numbers
✅ Surge in AI-related posts In 2025, AI-related posts on social media increased by about 1.7 times
✅ Expansion of generative AI usage The number of people using it for information retrieval tripled in one year
✅ Stability of cafe posts About 80% of restaurants use Instagram
✅ The Power of Hashtags One store that ranked at the top for "#OmotesandoCafe" saw its followers grow from 2,000 to 5,500 in three months.an increase of about 2.75 times in some cases.
📓 The Synergy of Notion × Cafe × AI
If you are a Notion user, it is even more effective.
Common problems:
📝 Notes pile up, but I can't organize them
💭 Fragmented thoughts are scattered everywhere
🤔 "I know I wrote something good," but it gets buried
The Cafe × AI Solution:
1️⃣ Open Notion at a cafe
2️⃣ Show your notes to AI
3️⃣ Ask, "How should I organize this?"
4️⃣ AI suggests a structure
5️⃣ Put it back into Notion and reorganize
If you turn this process into an Instagram post:
📱 Post example: "My Notion was a mess, but I consulted AI at a cafe and was able to organize it this well✨"
Before: Scattered note screen
After: Neatly structured page
This might just resonate with Notion users.
#️⃣ Effective Hashtag Strategy
The key is to narrow it down to 3-5 tags:
📍 Basics: #CafeLife #CafeHopping #StylishCafe
🔍 Differentiation: #AIUsage #ChatGPT #ThoughtOrganization #NotionUsage
🌸 Seasonal: #NewLife #StartingInSpring
If targeting Notion users: #Notion #NotionTips #DigitalNotebook #InformationOrganization
🎬 Tips for Posting
Show the before and after in short reels (15-30 seconds).
📱 Before: "I'm feeling stuck..." (at a cafe seat)
💬 Process: Screen showing a conversation with AI
✨ After: "I feel refreshed!" (diagram written in a notebook)
This flow increases engagement.
Cafe x AI x Thought Organization.
This is currently a "niche but definitely expanding" area.
Those who start early can ride the wave of the trend.
🌸 Why February-March?
The reason this change is accelerating "now":
1. ☀️ Seasonal Factors
❄️ Wanting to be freed from the heaviness of winter
🌸 Anticipation for spring
✨ A time when the desire to "change" increases
2. 🎓 Social Factors
📝 New life preparation period (run-up to April)
🎯 The feeling of "I want to do X this year for sure"
📅 Goal setting aligned with the change of the fiscal year
Data also shows that about 40% of new employees plan to change their image, and over 70% are looking forward to starting their new lives.
3. 🤖 Technical Factors
💡 Generative AI has become a "familiar tool"
📈 The demographic that considers it "standard to use" is expanding
🧠 Use for "thought support" has begun to take root
4. 💭 Psychological Factors
🌱 Wanting to move forward even if it's not perfect
🌸 A season where "incomplete" thinking is permitted
📖 A return to light self-improvement
✨ The beginning of a new cafe time
Cafe x AI.
This is one of the new ways of spending time that is starting to spread among certain urban demographics in the spring of 2026.
Using tools for thinking in a place for thinking, and facing oneself.
Instead of seeking perfect answers, just having time to think.
☕ Cafes are now becoming places to face oneself and organize thoughts while interacting with AI.
A place to build the self of tomorrow while drinking coffee and interacting with AI.
Feeling the spring sunshine, that time has already begun.
🎯 Why don't you try it too?
The next time you go to a cafe, please try opening your AI for just 5 minutes.
You don't have to try to come up with an answer. Just throwing out a question is enough.
Your thinking might just deepen a little bit.
─────────────────── Creator's Palette Trend Report Vol. 1 ───────────────────
Date Created: January 30, 2026
Analysis Period: 2025–February/March 2026
AI Used: ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude (KIS integrated)
📊 About this report
This report is a Creator's Palette trend report that uses KIS (Knowledge Innovation System) and multiple AIs (ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude) to analyze trends for February and March 2026 from multiple perspectives.
We aim to visualize the intersections of structural trends that cannot be seen by a single AI.
Next Preview: In Vol. 2, we will deliver a "Late March–April Cherry Blossoms x New Life Trend Analysis."
Creator's Palette
Trends x AI x Insights, for you.
📎 For those who want to know more about KIS:
🎓 KIS Paper (Free):https://zenodo.org/records/18720284
We are looking for companions who keep asking "why."
📌 KIS Official Website:
📣 Crowdfunding to support the development of KIS is currently underway on CAMPFIRE. You can support us starting from the 500 yen cheering course (includes a development behind-the-scenes report).
👉 AI starts thinking like an expert—we have developed a thought control protocol - CAMPFIRE