Under which conditions can "one" be used to refer to non human entity?

Question

I've heard that one is understood as referring to people if one uses any one as in

Q: Which of these ice cream flavors do you want?
A: Any one.

I understand that any one sounds like anyone, but is that a reason not to use the expression?

What about other uses of one, such as the first one and one of them?

Answer 1

"One" is used as a pronoun for things and people.

Things:

• "Please hand me the one on the right."
• "John wants the same one as all his friends."
• "Having only one is never enough."

People:

• "Mary is the one who gave me this cold."
• "The one on the right is my sister."
• "Go in one at a time, please."

Answer 2

Let's start with definitions.

Anyone means any person or people.

Any One refers to any object, person or animal mentioned in the context.

The difference is in how in how you pronounce these words. Once intonation is clear, there may be on confusion.

Anyone is pronounced as one word and the first syllable is stressed, while in any one, the one part is typically stressed more than any part.

Compare

Anyone can do it.

Any one of them can do it.