LAST UPDATE | 7 Dec 2025

IT’S THREE YEARS since ChatGPT launched – and we don’t really know how artificial intelligence will evolve or the full impact it will ultimately have on our lives and society.

Our time, our work and even our thought patters stand to be affected by this extraordinary technological leap to which everyone with a smartphone has access.

AI is getting smarter, doling out information (albeit some of it hallucinated) and advice, and rapidly performing tasks from coding to brainstorming ideas to drafting emails and essays – to teachers’ and lecturers’ despair.

From work shortcuts to diagnosing medical conditions, there’s no shortage of possible applications, and the barriers to entry are extremely low: most people who use AI do so with chatbot-style interfaces, which are easy to use and often free.

But while chatbots may be getting smarter, some studies suggest they may be making us stupider and – when used heavily - lonelier and even addicted and dependent on using them.

We want to hear your stories

Are chatbots such as ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Meta AI part of your day-to-day life? 

If so, we’d love to hear about how, when and why you use them, and what their arrival has meant for you.

• What tasks do you use AI for?
• How often do you use AI each day?
• Are you open with others about when you’ve used AI chatbots?
• What difference, if any, have AI chatbots made for you?
• Do you feel using chatbots has changed how you think or go about tasks?
• Do you feel dependent, and could you go back to not having access to these apps?

Please send us about 250 words – a few paragraphs – to answers@thejournal.ie.

Let us know your name, age and what county you live in, and tell us whether you would prefer to remain anonymous.

We’ll reflect your stories in an upcoming article that we hope will shed light on this profound change in the technology at our fingertips.