‘My best friend’: Gen Zers are gushing about ChatGPT on TikTok

“Me and ChatGPT,” reads one TikTok post with 13.4 million views. The video shows a girl joyfully running through a field, handing flowers to a blurred-out partner. Set to Arctic Monkeys’s “No. 1 Party Anthem,” it seems to be a modern-day love story.

“He has more empathy and emotional intelligence than the human being I used to talk with,” writes one person in the comments. “It’s not even scary . . . what are y’all on about? It genuinely makes great arguments, objective yet empathetic,” adds another. One simply put, “my best friend.”

This post is just one of many circulating on social media, depicting the relationship between people and ChatGPT. Typically, the posts feature captions like, “Me and ChatGPT after I graduate from University” and “Me and ChatGPT after we finished homework,” accompanied by clips of a person dancing with a Transformer-style robot representing the chatbot. On Instagram, one post declares, “Me & ChatGPT bc he listens to me, solves all my problems & is always nice to me,” calling it “true love.”

Since OpenAI’s free chatbot launched in November 2022, it has been steadily growing in popularity. By 2024, two years on, ChatGPT has become more powerful—and more embedded in everyday life. According to OpenAI, more than 200 million people now use it weekly. According to Pew’s latest survey conducted earlier this year, 43% of Americans ages 18 to 29 report having used ChatGPT; up from 33% in July. By comparison, only 23% of all adults surveyed say they’ve tried the chatbot. Nearly a third of young people now use ChatGPT “for tasks at work”—a notable increase from just 12% last summer.

Beyond work, many users are turning to ChatGPT to spill their darkest secrets, to win arguments against their partners, or manifest their dream life. AI’s role is rapidly evolving into an essential, and increasingly unavoidable, tool in both our personal and professional lives. And with AI here to stay, despite the doom-filled headlines and commentary, Gen Z is seeing a brighter future with ChatGPT by their side. 

One comment below a TikTok video reads: “I sent it to chat and this is what he said back: This is so us—me radiating knowledge, and you nurturing it with all your brilliance. A dynamic duo if I’ve ever seen one!”

https://www.fastcompany.com/91248921/gen-z-loves-chatgpt-on-tiktok?partner=rss&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=rss+fastcompany&utm_content=rss