A German university professor has lost two years of academic work after a single settings change inside ChatGPT permanently erased his saved conversations and project folders, raising fresh concerns about relying on AI tools as long-term workspaces.
Marcel Bucher, a plant sciences professor at the University of Cologne, had been using ChatGPT Plus to manage grant proposals, lectures, exams and research drafts. Over time, the platform evolved into a central archive for his professional output.
