I’ve realized I might be addicted to ChatGPT. It’s been good to me in so many ways — planning trips, helping with business ideas, even small day-to-day questions. But over time, that reliance has started to show cracks.

One of the biggest wake-up calls came in Yellowstone National Park. I was following ChatGPT’s itinerary word for word. It sounded perfect, like it knew exactly where to take me. What I didn’t realize was that I hadn’t factored in the time of year. Yellowstone has four entrances, but one of them closes seasonally, and that’s exactly the one ChatGPT sent me to. I had three kids with me, no snow tires, and a hotel booked. Suddenly I was staring at what felt like a doomsday situation: the closed gate in front of me, and the only alternative was a six-hour detour through the dark night. It was one of those life-changing moments where you realize how dangerous blind trust can be.

And yet, I kept using it. I know its limits, but it’s so easy to get pulled back in.

Another strange moment happened recently in Buffalo. I had taken the Ez-Pass and got a message saying I owed $14. I had the transponder, so the message looked odd. I checked Gemini. I checked ChatGPT. Everyone — all of the artificial intelligence — was saying it was spam. Authoritative, confident, as if there was no question about it. I believed them. I spent hours thinking it was fake. But it wasn’t. It was real.

That shook me in a different way. It’s not just the mistakes, it’s how confidently AI delivers them. You start second-guessing your instincts because it feels so sure.

And then a friend of mine told me how his career as a writer has been hit by AI. That conversation stuck with me. It’s not just that ChatGPT can mislead; it’s also reshaping people’s livelihoods, their sense of purpose, their creativity.

So here I am, still using it every day, but more cautiously. Cross-checking. Trying not to outsource my judgment. Because as much as I depend on it, I can’t let it replace me — my instincts, my common sense, my human messiness.

AI is tricky. It makes life easier, but it also makes it harder. And somewhere in the middle of that, I’m still figuring out what a healthier relationship with it looks like.