Man moved Delhi cab driver learning English using ChatGPT at 4 am: ‘He was quietly trying to…’

A LinkedIn post a management consultant has caught the internet’s attention after he shared an unusual encounter with a Delhi cab driver during an early-morning ride. Tushar Jejani shared the incident in a LinkedIn post, in which he recalled taking a cab at around 4:13 am in New Delhi. “4:13 am, New Delhi. A cab ride I will never forget,” he wrote.Jejani recalled taking the cab at around 4:13 am in New Delhi. (LinkedIn/Tushar Jejani)According to Jejani, the driver was speaking in English on his phone while driving through the largely empty roads of New Delhi. He was talking about his morning routine and the location of the ride, which initially made Jejani uncomfortable.”I got a little scared & started lening more carefully because, for a moment, I thought he was sharing our location and details with someone else,” Jejani wrote, adding that the driver noticed that he was getting uncomfortable and started a conversation with him.”Sir, where are you going?” the driver asked. “Main to Bangalore ja raha hoon,” Jejani replied.The driver then asked whether the trip was for work or personal reasons. Jejani responded, “Always work,” with a smile.The two continued speaking for around 10 minutes, with the driver speaking in English and Jejani replying in Hindi. It was only when Jejani asked who he had been speaking to on the phone that he learnt the reason behind the driver’s English conversation.”Nahi bhaiya, phone par nahi. Main English bolne ki practice kar raha tha ChatGPT par,” the driver told Jejani.The driver added that he was still working on speaking English fluently and had another motivation for learning it. “Meri abhi beti hui hai. Uske liye seekh raha hoon. Jab badi hogi, usko bhi sikhaunga,” he said.Reflecting on the conversation, Jejani said the moment made him realise that the driver was not simply learning a new language. He was trying to create better opportunities for his daughter. “On that almost empty road at 5 am, it hit me. He was not just learning English. He was quietly trying to build a different starting line for his daughter in life,” Jejani wrote.He also reflected on how artificial intelligence is making learning tools more accessible, writing that AI “gives everyone access to technology across all strata of Indian society.””No coaching class. No gatekeeper. Only intent and a smartphone with AI. Reflecting on a ride from last year, and how AI have evolved since then,” he wrote.”What a ride. What a reminder. ‘Learn, learn, and learn,” he concluded.Social media reactionsThe post has since sparked a discussion on the wider impact of AI and how tools such as ChatGPT can help people learn skills outside traditional classrooms.Reacting to the post, one user wrote, “AI’s greatest impact may not be replacing jobs, but removing the barriers that once kept ambition from becoming opportunity.””The driver’s story shows that curiosity, intent, and access to technology can open new doors, regardless of where someone starts. Learning doesn’t need a classroom; sometimes, all it needs is a smartphone and the willingness to keep improving,” commented another.”AI’s biggest impact may not be automation, but giving ordinary people access to tools that were once difficult to reach,” wrote a third user.”The most striking part shouldn’t be the AI, but the intent behind it. A driver using ChatGPT at 5am to build a better starting line for his daughter says more about ambition in this country than any Davos panel could. Access used to be the moat. Now it’s just Wi-Fi and willpower,” said one user.