People have always sought private spaces for their thoughts: journals, prayers, late-night conversations with themselves. What feels different now is interactivity. A conversational AI system is not a silent page or an imagined listener. It responds. It validates. It adapts to tone and content. For many users-especially those who feel misunderstood or overwhelmed-that responsiveness can feel like relief.
During one session, the male partner rushed into my office and handed me a printout of his exchange with ChatGPT. I shared a knowing glance with his wife before skimming it over. The transcript included his version of an argument they'd had alongside ChatGPT's commentary. ChatGPT reinforced his view, labeling his wife's communication as "highly problematic," "abusive," and even suggesting traits of "narcissistic personality disorder."
Fajr Khan has learned the value of small things - giving somebody a meal, providing a safe place to sleep, or being fully engaged during a conversation with a lonely person. Most her volunteer work with homeless people has been done quietly. But now the senior is trying to grasp a very different experience that is not so anonymous: winning a Rhodes Scholarship. "It still hasn't really settled in," Khan said with a laugh. "It just feels very not real. There's like this level of disbelief. But it's very cool and exciting."
Most people engage, especially when we are idle, in the seemingly harmless reverie of daydreaming. Letting your mind escape from the humdrum of your daily existence to a more pleasant set of circumstances seems not only harmless but, at times, necessary. Perhaps you're stuck in a long checkout line after stocking up at your favorite big box store. You've checked all your texts; your phone provides no relief.