Purpose: Chat Generative Pre-trained Transformer (ChatGPT) has become everyone's talk. It frightens many professionals, who worry about losing their jobs. ChatGPT may reconstruct some professions; some occupations may vanish while new ones may appear. Design/methodology/approach: This mixed-methods study explores whether and how the use of ChatGPT impacts English is taught as a foreign language (EFL) students' social and emotional learning (SEL). The study used a questionnaire and collected perception data from 57 EFL students. A discussion with seven EFL professors was also formulated to triangulate the findings. Findings: Results indicate that EFL students have high positive perceptions of using ChatGPT in their learning (M = 3.87). Results also showed that using ChatGPT has a moderate impact on EFL students' SEL (R = 514). This moderate effect was confirmed by the qualitative findings, which indicated that ChatGPT positively impacts EFL students' SEL by allowing them to practice conversation skills, aiding them in managing their emotional intelligence, providing them with feedback and reducing their anxiety. However, findings also indicated that ChatGPT reduces students' creativity and limits their emotional growth. Finally, the findings reported that for better use of ChatGPT, supervision is key. Originality/value: This study recommends the use of ChatGPT in a way that helps students' creativity and emotional growth.