OpenAI CEO Sam Altman says Gen Z and millennials use ChatGPT as a ‘life advisor’—but college students may be ahead of the curve

(SeaPRwire) –   As ChatGPT advances in sophistication, its range of practical applications expands. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman notes that various generations are employing the tool in distinct ways.

“It’s a broad oversimplification, but older individuals tend to use ChatGPT as a substitute for Google. People in their twenties and thirties might use it more as a life coach, while college students treat it like an operating system,” Altman remarked at Sequoia Capital’s AI Ascent event in May of last year.

The venture capital firm Sequoia made its initial investment in OpenAI in 2021, when the company was valued at $14 billion. Following one of the largest private funding rounds on record, OpenAI’s current valuation stands at $852 billion. Sequoia’s portfolio also includes investments in other technology leaders such as Nvidia, Reddit, Instacart, YouTube, Apple, Dropbox, Airbnb, and Doordash.

How Gen Z uses ChatGPT differently from millennials

Altman explained that younger users approach ChatGPT akin to an operating system. They employ intricate methods to configure it, link it to their files, and maintain a repository of complex, memorized, or saved prompts.

“That aspect, I find, is quite cool and impressive,” Altman stated. “But there’s another dimension where they essentially refrain from making significant life choices without first consulting ChatGPT for guidance.”

In a 2025 report, OpenAI stated that “more than any other use case or user demographic, college-aged young adults in the U.S. are embracing ChatGPT,” noting that over one-third of individuals aged 18 to 24 use the AI.

This deep integration is possible because ChatGPT retains memory of a user’s past interactions. “It maintains complete context about every person in their life and their previous discussions,” Altman said.

Documented uses of ChatGPT span from seeking relationship and business counsel to asking medical questions. Some individuals even utilize it as an alternative to traditional talk therapy.

However, professionals in these areas are divided on the safety and wisdom of relying on ChatGPT for major decisions. A November 2023 study, for instance, “highlights the need for caution when using ChatGPT for safety-related information and expert verification, as well as the need for ethical considerations and safeguards to ensure users understand the limitations and receive appropriate advice.” Separate research suggested that large language models like ChatGPT are “inherently sociopathic,” raising concerns about the trustworthiness of their counsel.

Conversely, other studies and trials indicate that using ChatGPT for everyday advice can be benign—and potentially beneficial in certain situations.

OpenAI did not provide an immediate response to a request for comment on the safety and reliability of using ChatGPT for advisory purposes.

“The disparity is remarkable” between how a 20-year-old might use ChatGPT compared to older users, Altman observed during the Sequoia discussion.

“It brings to mind the introduction of the smartphone, where every child mastered it effortlessly,” Altman recalled. “Meanwhile, older adults often took several years just to learn the fundamentals.”

An earlier version of this report was first published on .com on May 13, 2025.

Further reading on ChatGPT usage:

• A man let ChatGPT sell his home. It beat every agent’s estimate by $100K—and closed in 5 days
• Gen Z is using ChatGPT to practice salary negotiations and tough conversations before they happen
• OpenAI launches ChatGPT Health in a push to become a hub for personal health data