'Stopped Using My Brain': UAE Residents Hit By Chatgpt Outage Reveal AI Dependence

When ChatGPT went dark on Tuesday, some UAE residents found themselves unexpectedly stuck, unable to draft emails, write code, compile assignments, or finish work reports. The global outage of the popular AI tool sparked widespread confusion and frustration, especially among those who have come to rely on it for everyday tasks. Experts say the disruption serves as a reminder of how deeply generative AI is now embedded in the daily lives of people across the Emirates, and the vulnerabilities that come with that dependence.

At exactly 3.40pm, Nadia M., a 25-year-old employee at a marketing agency in Dubai, needed to send a reply to an important email. As usual, she turned to ChatGPT. She pasted the email she had received and typed in a simple prompt in her simple way:“Make it professional.” Instead of getting a response, she was met with an“error message stream.” She refreshed the page once, then again, and even tried using her phone. Nothing worked.

“I know I can write this email by myself, it wouldn't take me more than two minutes,” Nadia confessed .“But I can't put my finger on it... was it full reliance on ChatGPT or just a lack of confidence in myself?”

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Users in the UAE were among the thousands worldwide impacted by Tuesday's OpenAI outage, according to Downdetector, a website that tracks digital service disruptions.

Globally, around 93 per cent of users reported issues while using ChatGPT, with the rest facing login and app-related problems. Reports peaked around 1.30pm UAE time, with continued disruptions well into the afternoon. In the Emirates, complaints hit a high at 1.40pm. About 60 per cent of UAE users faced website-related issues, 38 per cent had trouble logging in, and a small percentage struggled with the app itself.

When Nadia she saw headlines about the global outage, she said she was shocked.“Those couple of hours made me realise I had actually stopped using my brain,” she said.“I woke up the next day and continued to use ChatGPT, of course, but I now feel like I need to limit my dependence. Still, it helps me focus more on creativity rather than smaller, routine tasks.”

The outage, however, wasn't just a professional inconvenience. For others, it felt oddly personal.“My emotional support AI was offline,” said Eman, a 27-year-old Dubai resident.“It was like losing contact with someone real.”

She was at work at a café in Umm Suqeim when she noticed the site wasn't responding.“It didn't make sense to me. I felt weirdly disconnected, and I actually left work early because of it.”

“It felt strange not to get a response from ChatGPT, it's usually so fast and reliable.”

Earlier this year, OpenAI simplified the login process by removing the sign-up requirement for new users. Although the service was originally launched only for paid subscribers, it was later rolled out to the public with some limitations for free users. This wider accessibility is expected to challenge traditional search engines like Google and Bing, while also increasing user dependency.

Bob Wambach, VP of Portfolio and Strategy at Dynatrace, said the growing reliance on AI tools like ChatGPT brings new risks, especially when it comes to resilience.

“The complexity of the IT systems underpinning public-facing AI services, combined with rapidly increasing interest and user traffic, makes ensuring reliability a challenge,” he said.

“In the case of ChatGPT, users are increasingly reliant on the tool in their personal and professional lives, and any outages will inevitably cause frustration.”

Wambach added that AI-powered monitoring will be essential to prevent future disruptions.“Human capacity simply can't pace and scale at the rate needed to continually monitor, analyse, and optimise software in real-time, only AI can.”

A recent report by Boston Consulting Group showed that 91 per cent of UAE consumers are aware of generative AI, and 34 per cent are active users. Among students, the figure is even higher: 32 per cent report weekly interaction with such tools.

As generative AI continues to shape how people communicate, work, and learn in the UAE, the outage offered a rare and revealing, moment of pause.

“It made me realise I've stopped doing things the hard way,” Nadia said.“Maybe I need to start again, at least a little.”

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