ChatGPT Addiction: How AI Is Leading Us Down a Path of Addiction

In the world fueled by the advancement of marvelous technologies, the visionaries of bygone days progressively become tangible pieces of innovation that exist outside of Hollywood movies. From laptops and smartphones to VR headsets and smartwatches, and now artificial intelligences that are becoming smarter by the day. I remembered the time my family and I were watching Back To The Future II, and dreamed of owning self-drying clothes that were predicted for 2015 in the film. While we still don’t have those yet in 2025, we were given a lot more than we bargained for, especially towards technologies that have since disrupted our livelihood. Today, these disruptive technologies have become so integral to our lives that ChatGPT addiction is now a recognized psychological concern.

Understanding ChatGPT Addiction

ChatGPT alone has amassed a staggering 700 million weekly active users worldwide as of July 2025 (Chatterji, 2025). A rough estimation meant almost 10% of humanity uses its service, not counting other AI models such as Deepseek, Gemini, or Grok. The number exists for good reason because AI is simply so effective in making life easier. From conveniently writing emails to giving profound life advice, ChatGPT is becoming the next thing that will uplift us towards superintelligent civilization. However, is it too soon to judge?

According to Kooli et al. (2025) and Maral et al. (2025), more potential psychological diagnoses have sprung up as a result of AI in recent times such as Problematic ChatGPT Use (PCGU) or Generative Artificial Intelligence Addiction (GAID) D is used for Addiction. These diagnoses are notable due to AI’s characteristic to represent a “better” version of us. Previously, technology-based addiction came mostly in the form of video games or internet use, where easily accessible dopamine hits from online contents or quick reward games become the cause of addiction. However, these means to addiction came from entertainment media that does not necessarily translate to productivity in real life, and is something we can live without in the first place. For example, not seeing your friend’s Christmas decoration or not playing Minecraft for a few days would not have been the end of the world for anyone.

How ChatGPT Addiction Differs From Other Technology Addictions

PCGU or GAID is different because AI also helps solve real world problems better and faster than anyone else. Long gone are the days of having to spend hours writing formal emails to your bosses/teachers with proper etiquette and tones. So long are the days students have spent weeks writing essays when ChatGPT can produce one in mere seconds. The prominent threat of ChatGPT addiction is that it is helpful in all scopes of life and is becoming something we REALLY can’t live without. Researchers have begun to call for changes in AI interactive manners, which are becoming “too” human, but before that, how is AI use affecting us negatively (Yankouskaya et al., 2025)?

The Neurological Impact of ChatGPT Addiction

New research awaiting peer-review speaks of this issue in full detail (Kosmyna et al., 2025). According to Kosmyna et al. (2025), 83% of those who use ChatGPT to work fail to remember what they worked on simply because ChatGPT is “faster” than the brain to register progress. Another inhibition comes from those who relied on ChatGPT to socialize with others, from potential dates to friends and family, which has been found to reduce the feeling of connectedness we feel from them.

Generally, ChatGPT addiction hacks our brain’s dopamine and oxytocin neurochemical pathways, which we relied on to feel whole and connected with the world. While we use AIs to strengthen our productivity, we are doing so at the cost of having our lives drift away in front of us. While it is true that we used to yearn for innovation from old sci-fi movies, we have to really ask ourselves whether it is worth the price we are paying.

Looking for Counseling?

If you’re struggling with technology addiction or ChatGPT addiction, contact us at 412-856-WELL or fill out the form below to get started.

Written by Charles Asavatesanon, Counseling Intern

Sources

Chatterji, A., Cunningham, T., Deming, D., Hitzig, Z., Ong, C., Shan, C., & Wadman, K. (2025). How people use ChatGPT. OpenAI. DOI: 10.3386/w34255 

Kooli, C., Kooli, Y., & Kooli, E. (2025). Generative artificial intelligence addiction syndrome: A new behavioral disorder? Asian Journal of Psychiatry, 107, 104476. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajp.2025.104476 

Kosmyna, N., Hauptmann, E., Yuan, Y. T., Situ, J., Liao, X. H., Beresnitzky, A. V., … & Maes, P. (2025). Your Brain on ChatGPT: Accumulation of Cognitive Debt when Using an AI Assistant for Essay Writing Task. arXiv e-prints, arXiv-2506. 

Maral, S., Naycı, N., Bilmez, H., Erdemir, E. İ., & Satici, S. A. (2025). Problematic ChatGPT Use Scale: AI‑Human Collaboration or Unraveling the Dark Side of ChatGPT. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-025-01509-y  

Yankouskaya, A., Liebherr, M., & Ali, R. (2025). Can ChatGPT be addictive? A call to examine the shift from support to dependence in AI conversational large language models. Human-Centric Intelligent Systems, 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1007/s44230-025-00090-w