With the launch of the beta version of ChatGPT in November 2022, my interactions with Generative AI moved from something new and unprecedented to becoming a constant companion in my everyday life. Now, almost three years later, GenAI is deeply rooted in my professional and personal environments.
In my work environment, our company’s internal GPT “vally” acts almost like a digital co-consultant: drafting emails, enhancing client-facing material, and even simulating scenarios that would otherwise take me forever to do. Vally accelerates my workflows and enhances quality. At the same time, I am raising myself the question: Am I improving my own skills, or am I simply outsourcing part of my thinking process to an algorithm that never sleeps?
At home, the interactions are far less formal but no less present. Just the other day, I felt like making pancakes but had no scale and only a random mix of leftovers in the fridge. Instead of calling my mom, I asked ChatGPT for a recipe using only basic ingredients and a cup for measurement. A couple of minutes later, I was eating delicious pancakes. It might seem trivial, but moments like this show how naturally I hand over some of the smallest everyday decisions to AI.
Within my studies, Generative AI has taken on yet another role. It serves as a discussion partner, challenging my reasoning and summarizing complex readings. Rather than replacing critical thinking, it often sharpens it. By comparing my arguments to AI-generated ones, I am forced to refine my perspective and can develop it further. Still, the danger of overreliance is real. If every academic idea is first filtered through AI, does my originality become diluted?
This dilemma between support and dependence is the key concept of my reflection. Generative AI is not only a tool for productivity but also shapes how we think, learn, and make decisions. It is both enabling and limiting. Enabling, because it gives me faster access to knowledge and creativity. Simultaneously, limiting, because it tempts me to surrender intellectual effort to convenience.
The broader challenge for us, students, professionals, and individuals, is not whether AI will continue to improve. It will! The real question is whether we can develop the awareness and discipline to use it as a tool without letting it take away our ability to think and decide independently. The fate is now in our hands: How dependent do we want to become on machines as a daily companion?
References
Saager, M. (2025). Vally – our valantic custom AI Assistant. valantic. https://www.valantic.com/en/generative-ai/ai-assistant/
