How ChatGPT Changed Millions of Lives — Including Mine
If someone had told me in 2022 that a chatbot would become my business partner, my personal coach, and the most reliable assistant I’ve ever had, I would’ve laughed and gone back to my overstuffed email inbox. But here I am, in 2025, reflecting on how a strange little tool called ChatGPT not only changed the world — it changed me. Let me rewind. I used to work in digital marketing for a mid-sized agency in Chicago. Life was okay — not great, not terrible. We had clients, we made campaigns, and I wrote copy for websites and social media. But everything changed when layoffs hit during the economic slowdown of late 2023. One Monday morning, I was let go — just like that. I had rent due in two weeks, savings barely enough for a month, and no job prospects in sight. It was terrifying. That same week, a friend told me to “play around with ChatGPT.” I’d heard of it, of course — who hadn’t? But I thought it was just some AI toy that nerds used for fun. Still, desperation has a funny way o...