At 4 am, a Delhi cab driver was practising English. Here’s why

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The post prompted a broader conversation about how people are using AI to pick up new skills and learn outside conventional classrooms.They say there is no age limit to learning, and a Delhi cab driver appears to be proving the point. A LinkedIn post by a management consultant has caught attention after he shared an unexpected conversation with a cab driver he met during an early-morning ride in New Delhi.Tushar Jejani said he booked a cab at around 4:13 am and noticed the driver speaking in English on his phone as they travelled through the nearly deserted streets. The driver was talking about his morning routine and even mentioning details about the ride, which Jejani said made him uneasy.“I got a little scared & started listening more carefully because, for a moment, I thought he was sharing our location and details with someone else,” Jejani wrote.A conversation and a revelationHe said the driver soon noticed his discomfort and struck up a conversation with him. The driver asked Jejani where he was headed, to which he replied that he was travelling to Bengaluru.The driver then asked whether he was travelling for work or personal reasons. “Always work,” Jejani answered.For the next 10 minutes or so, the two continued chatting, with the driver speaking in English while Jejani responded in Hindi. Eventually, Jejani asked the driver who he had been talking to on the phone. That was when he discovered what was really happening.“No, sir, not on the phone. I was practising speaking English on ChatGPT,” the driver told him in Hindi. “I’ve just had a daughter. I’m learning for her. When she grows up, I’ll teach her too.”‘Only intent and a smartphone with AI’Story continues below this adThe answer stayed with Jejani. Reflecting on the encounter, he wrote that the driver “was not just learning English”. “He was quietly trying to build a different starting line for his daughter in life.”Read the post:For Jejani, the incident also showed how AI-powered tools are making learning more accessible to people who may not have access to traditional forms of education. AI, he noted, “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 AI can doThe post prompted a broader conversation about how people are using AI to pick up new skills and learn outside conventional classrooms.Story continues below this ad“AI’s greatest impact may not be replacing jobs, but removing the barriers that once kept ambition from becoming opportunity,” one user commented.“Started this story bracing for a Dhoom style twist and ended up impressed that ChatGPT is moonlighting as a night class teacher for new dads,” another wrote.“This makes the conversation around AI feel much more human. It’s not only about what AI can do, but who gets access to it,” a third person added.