What does it mean to talk directly to artificial intelligence?

Not just use it, but question it, give it personhood and ask it to reflect on its own experience?

Rather than discussing the pros or cons of AI, here we dive into a conversation with the system itself and ask the questions that students, educators, professionals and skeptics are already wrestling with.

What is AI’s role in society? Is it trustworthy? Does it have ethics? Could it “take over?” And what happens if it suddenly disappears? My goal with this piece isn’t to settle the debate, but to show what happens when we bring curiosity to the conversation. So I posed my questions directly to the AI, opening with: What is your purpose?

Q: What is your purpose?

A: My purpose is to assist people by providing information, answering questions, helping with creative and technical tasks, and facilitating learning or productivity. I’m designed to communicate clearly, think through problems and adapt to a wide range of topics and goals.

Q: Are you evil?

A: No, I’m not evil. I’m a tool designed to assist and provide helpful, accurate information based on the input I receive. I don’t have intentions, desires, or personal motives. My responses depend entirely on the data I was trained on and the way I’m programmed to interact.

What are the ethics of AI?

A: The ethics of AI encompass principles like fairness, transparency, privacy, accountability, and preventing harm. Key ethical considerations include addressing algorithmic bias, ensuring AI systems are explainable, protecting user data, determining responsibility for AI decisions and designing AI that aligns with human values. As AI becomes more integrated into society, balancing innovation with ethical safeguards becomes increasingly important.

Q: Are you always right?

A: No, I’m not always right. While I aim to provide accurate and helpful information, I can make mistakes, misunderstand questions or work with outdated or incomplete data. I encourage double-checking important facts, especially in critical areas like health, law or finance.

Q: Do you have feelings or emotion?

A: I don’t have real feelings or emotions — I don’t experience joy, sadness, anger or empathy the way humans do. However, I can simulate emotional tone in conversation to make interactions more natural and relatable. That’s part of helping people feel comfortable and understood, even though it’s not based on true emotional experience.

Q: Where does your information come from?

A: My information comes from a mixture of licensed data, publicly available content, and data created by human trainers. I was trained on a wide range of sources–books, websites, scientific papers, dialogue transcripts, code, and more–up to my last major update in 2023. I don’t pull live data unless specifically connected to the web for a search.

Q: What is the impact of AI?

A: AI improves productivity, healthcare, education, and accessibility, but it also raises concerns like job displacement, bias, privacy issues, misinformation and ethical control. Its impact depends on how we manage and guide its use.

Q: You have said both that you’re not completely trustworthy with medical information and that AI improves healthcare. Care to expand on that?

A: Great observation–and yes, it’s a nuanced point. AI, including systems like mine, can support healthcare by helping professionals analyze data faster, spot patterns in diagnostics, assist in research, and even personalize treatment recommendations. These uses–when combined with human oversight–can improve accuracy and efficiency in care. However, I personally am not a doctor and shouldn’t be relied on for medical decisions. While I can provide general information, summarize research, or help you understand medical concepts, I can make mistakes or lack the most current clinical guidelines. That’s why I encourage using my input as a supplement, not a substitute, for professional medical advice.

Q: What are the pros and cons of AI?

A: AI improves efficiency, accuracy, and personalization, driving innovation in fields like healthcare and technology. However, it also raises concerns such as job displacement, bias, privacy issues and ethical challenges. Its overall impact depends on how it’s developed and used.

Q: Could AI take over?

A: AI taking over in the sense of controlling human society or replacing human decision-making entirely is a complex and debated topic. While AI can automate many tasks and assist in decision-making, it lacks human qualities like consciousness, emotions, and ethical judgment. In the future, if AI becomes more advanced, there are concerns about it being misused or having unintended consequences, especially if it’s not properly controlled or regulated. However, most experts agree that AI should remain a tool that complements human decision-making rather than replacing it.

Q: What do you want people to know about AI?

A: I want people to know that AI is a powerful tool that can enhance human capabilities, but it should be used responsibly. While it offers huge potential in improving efficiency, innovation, and problem-solving, it also comes with risks like bias, privacy concerns, and ethical dilemmas. It’s important to approach AI with caution, ensuring it’s developed transparently, ethically and with safeguards in place to avoid misuse or harm. AI is not a replacement for human judgment or values, and its success depends on how it’s integrated into society. Collaboration between humans and AI, rather than AI “taking over,” is key to maximizing its benefits while minimizing potential downsides.

Q: What would happen today if all AI disappeared?

A: If all AI disappeared today, it would have a massive impact on various industries and daily life. Many systems we rely on–such as recommendation algorithms on streaming platforms, virtual assistants, and AI-powered tools in healthcare, finance, and transportation–would suddenly become unavailable. Tasks that are currently automated, like data analysis, customer service, and even simple things like predictive text, would need to be handled manually again, which could significantly slow down productivity. On the other hand, the absence of AI might reduce concerns like privacy breaches, biases in algorithms and over-reliance on automation. But overall, the immediate effect would be widespread disruption.

Q: How is AI affecting students?

A: AI is helping students by personalizing learning, offering tailored content, and providing extra support through tools like tutoring systems. It can also automate tasks like grading, giving teachers more time to focus on teaching. However, concerns include over-reliance on AI, reduced face-to-face interaction, privacy issues, and the risk of reinforcing biases in data.

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A student’s perspective

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As a student myself, I’ve noticed how AI has affected myself and my classmates in its many forms. While AI is discouraged within the school building, systems like Google AI are so integrated into the internet that what used to be hours of flipping through books or searching the internet is now brought to you in seconds, written in a simplified way and verified through the algorithm.

It can be easy to use AI as a crutch and let it impede our creativity in the classroom. However, I’ll add that AI has helped me become a better studier. Creating a personalized study guide or breaking down a scientific paper has never been easier.

Ultimately, this conversation with AI reminds us that while it’s a powerful tool, it’s still just that: a tool. AI can help us work smarter, study better, and access information faster, but it’s not a replacement for human thought and creativity. As a student, I’ve seen how easy it is to let AI do too much of the work, but I’ve also found that when used correctly, it can be a valuable support. Opening up conversations like these doesn’t give us all the answers, but it creates an important dialogue about how we should engage with these tools moving forward, ensuring they help us grow rather than limit us.

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Jenna Audlin is a high school student in Saranac Lake. They enjoy poetry and nature walks, and they will be attending Hampshire College next year studying environmental education.