Following the trend popularized by platforms like Spotify and YouTube, OpenAI has introduced a personalized year-end recap feature for its flagship AI, ChatGPT. Dubbed "Your Year with ChatGPT" or "Year in Review," this new feature provides users with a detailed, interactive summary of their annual interactions with the chatbot, from usage statistics to AI-generated insights about their conversational style and themes. While a novel and engaging addition for power users, the feature's current limited availability and the potential for it to serve as a stark reality check on one's AI usage have sparked immediate discussion.
A Personalized AI Retrospective Inspired by Music Streaming
OpenAI's new "Year in Review" feature draws direct inspiration from the annual wrap-ups pioneered by music streaming services. Available to users in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia, the experience generates a multi-page, interactive summary for eligible accounts. To access it, users must have their chat history and the "memory" feature enabled, providing ChatGPT with the necessary data to analyze a year's worth of conversations. The recap transforms this raw data into a curated journey, beginning with a custom-generated poem that attempts to encapsulate the user's year based on their chat topics.
Feature Availability & Requirements
- Name: "Your Year with ChatGPT" / "Year in Review"
- Available Regions: United States, United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand, Australia.
- Account Requirements: Must have chat history enabled and the "reference saved memories" feature turned on.
- Plan Availability: Free, Plus, and Pro plans are eligible.
Diving Deep into Your Conversational Data
Beyond the poetic introduction, the feature offers a comprehensive breakdown of a user's ChatGPT habits. It identifies the major themes that dominated their conversations over the year, which could range from "Creative Worlds" and "What-Ifs" for more imaginative users to work and productivity for others. The recap provides hard statistics, including the total number of messages sent and even pinpoints the specific day a user was most active. For heavy users, these numbers can be startling, with some early testers finding themselves in the top percentile of all messages sent—a data point that one user described as making them "feel a bit ashamed" of their usage.
Data & Insights Provided in the Recap
- Annual Themes: AI-identified major topics discussed throughout the year (e.g., Creative Worlds, What-Ifs, Productivity).
- Usage Statistics: Total messages sent, percentile ranking among users, and the single day with the most activity.
- Chat Style Analysis: A descriptive summary of the user's conversational approach (e.g., "thoughtful curiosity, mixing realism, imagination, and humor").
- User Archetype: An MBTI-style categorization based on interaction patterns.
- Personalized Content: An AI-generated poem, themed pixel art, and humorous "awards" related to chat topics.
- Future Prediction: An AI-generated forecast for the user's interactions in the coming year.
AI-Generated Profiles and Archetypes
A significant part of the recap's appeal is its use of AI to generate a personality profile based on interaction patterns. ChatGPT analyzes a user's chat style, offering descriptions such as "thoughtful curiosity, mixing realism, imagination, and humor." It also assigns an MBTI-style user archetype, categorizing individuals based on how they engage with the AI. The experience is personalized with AI-generated pixel art themed around the user's discussed topics and even includes playful "awards," like "Most Likely to Turn a Phone Plan into a Philosophy," adding a layer of humor to the data-driven analysis.
A Feature Rollout Amidst Broader Platform Evolution
The launch of the Year in Review comes on the heels of several other significant updates to the ChatGPT platform. Recently, OpenAI introduced granular controls that allow users to fine-tune the AI's characteristics, such as its verbosity or use of emojis. The company also added the ability to pin important conversations for easy access and launched a dedicated ChatGPT app store to expand functionality through third-party integrations. The yearly recap feature fits into this pattern of enhancing user personalization and control, turning the AI from a simple tool into a platform that reflects and analyzes the user's own behavior.
The Double-Edged Sword of Self-Reflection
For many, the Year in Review is a fun and insightful novelty. However, as one early user candidly shared, it can also serve as an unexpected mirror, highlighting just how much time one spends conversing with an AI. This introspection has led some to reconsider their usage patterns, drawing parallels to the endless scroll of social media. The feature, while entertaining, underscores a growing awareness of digital consumption habits, even in the nascent field of generative AI. It prompts users to ask not just what they talked about, but how much of their time and mental energy was devoted to these digital dialogues.
Looking Ahead with Limited Availability
As of late December 2025, the feature remains geographically restricted. OpenAI has not provided a specific timeline for a wider global rollout, leaving users outside the five supported countries waiting, potentially until next year's recap. For those with access, the Year in Review represents a clever marketing tool and a engaging user retention feature. It successfully leverages the platform's core strength—personalized interaction—to create a shareable, year-end milestone. Whether it becomes a beloved annual tradition or a sobering check on AI dependency, OpenAI's first foray into the yearly recap game has certainly made a memorable entry.