Have you used ChatGPT this year?
If you know me, you know I’m not afraid to test things out—even if it means making a fool of myself. ?? Last week, during a panel discussion, Tom Braegelmann and I debated the adoption of GenAI beyond early adopters. My theory: Most people still aren’t using it. In the business world, I’d bet at least half haven’t used ChatGPT recently. And if that’s true, then the real mass market wave of GenAI is still ahead of us—including in legal. This isn’t just a gut feeling. It’s based on feedback from presentations, demos, and workshops. And outside of business? The gap is even bigger (I have heard similar observations from Nicola Shaver, Oz Benamram and Stefan C. Schicker recently). So, I hit the streets to gather some data. First stop: Union Square, NYC. I asked 17 random people: "Have you used ChatGPT in 2025"? Here are the results: ?? Only 6 out of 17 people had used it. ?? All young people (students, high schoolers) use it. ?? Most senior professionals haven’t tried it. ?? Businesspeople know about it—but many don’t actively use it. What does that mean? ?? Mass market adoption is still a loong time time to go ?? OpenAI still has a lot of room to grow - and #LegalAI, too. ?? Street interviews are harder than they look. ?? ?? Union Square might not be the best sample. Next stops: London, Berlin & Frankfurt. Let’s see if the trend holds. ?? Micha-Manuel Bues Joanna Sidhu Maximilian Paterson