ChatGPT is now 3 years old

On November 30, 2022, a chat window changed the world. This week, as OpenAI's ChatGPT celebrates its third birthday, it does so not as a novelty, but as a daily companion to a staggering 800 million people every week.

That number isn't just large; it's dominant. As per a report by Business Insider, if you were to combine the weekly users of its five main competitors, ChatGPT's audience would still be roughly twice the size. The report estimates that by the end of the year, the chatbot should reach a billion weekly conversations.

The journey to this milestone has been a sprint of unprecedented scale. It took just two months for ChatGPT to amass 100 million users, securing its place in history as the fastest-growing app ever. But the real story is in the relentless climb since.

In November 2023, CEO Sam Altman announced that ChatGPT had reached 100 million weekly users. By the following August, that number had doubled to 200 million, as per findings by Business Insider. The growth hasn't slowed: 300 million by December 2024, 400 million by February 2025, and now, just a few months afterwards, the platform has more than doubled its user base again to reach the 800 million mark.

Behind these staggering figures are quiet, human moments. It's a student asking for help on homework at midnight, a small business owner drafting an email, a grandparent seeking a simpler explanation of a news story, or a developer stuck on a line of code. ChatGPT has woven itself into the fabric of daily problem-solving, moving from a viral sensation to a utility as commonplace as a search bar. The phrase "Let me check ChatGPT" has slowly become a natural part of our everyday vocabulary.

However, this growth arrives with a complex legacy. The initial waves of awe were swiftly followed by deep anxiety, as white-collar workers, writers, and coders confronted the unsettling possibility of their roles being diminished or displaced. This fear sparked a global debate about the future of work that continues today.

ChatGPT's rapid adoption also forced a wake-up call in education. The same tool helping students understand concepts also made uncritical copy-and-paste submissions effortless. In response, AI detection checkers have become a commonplace, if imperfect, fixture in schools and universities, turning assignment submission into a new kind of digital arms race. 

These initial concerns have since grown into more nuanced discussions about reliability, bias, and the environmental footprint of such vast digital intelligence. The chatbot's (in)famous 'hallucinations', where it confidently states falsehoods, are a constant reminder that ChatGPT (and AI as a whole) is not a source of truth to any extent.

As ChatGPT blows out the candles on its third birthday, its childhood of explosive, unrivalled growth is clearly over. It now steps into its next chapter of adulthood: the challenge of maintaining trust, the responsibility of its immense influence, and the task of proving it is a sustainable tool for empowerment. One thing remains certain, though: the digital world it entered three years ago is gone. AI models like ChatGPT have taken over our everyday work and studies, and will likely continue to do so for the foreseeable future.