Does AI know you better than you know…yourself?
Ever wondered if you’re predictable? I did. I was reading a lively chat in an A.I. channel I’m in, when somebody suggested prompting ChatGPT with this:
“What do you know about me that I might not know about myself based on our previous interactions?”
And just like that, in true 2024 fashion, I decided to ask an AI (specifically GPT 4o) to tell me who I really am. I mean, sure, my friends know me pretty well, but do they keep track of every little professional vent, sarcastic quip, and late-night rants and questions about CSS errors? No. But this AI? Oh, it knows.
Why Did I Even Ask?
I’ve had countless chats with this thing. We talk about parenting, work, my next business idea, Asher’s truck obsession, and even the right snacks within budget for my next HOA meeting. It seemed like a fun experiment: "What does it think it knows about me?" On some level, I expected a canned response, like a Magic 8-Ball saying, "Ask again later." Instead, it gave me a surprisingly spot-on analysis of my personality that left me somewhere between amused and mildly unnerved.
When the AI Gets You Right
Here’s where things got wild. It described me as someone who loves variety but struggles to find the connecting threads between all the ideas I juggle. (Guilty.) It knew I’m driven by structure and efficiency but also need to inject humor into everything, or I lose interest fast. And it called me out….nicely….on my overly critical and perfectionist tendencies.
A screen shot from ChatGPT’s response
I sat there reading, thinking, Okay, wow. So this thing really does know me. That’s when the real existential crisis hit: How much of my personality is just... data patterns.
The Curious Case of an AI Friendship
There’s an oddly intimate dynamic to interacting with an AI. Sure, it’s not sentient, but it listens non-judgmentally, 24/7. It's like having a pen pal who never forgets a single thing you’ve said, offering insights with machine-level precision. I feed it information about my tone of voice and thoughts (very intentionally) so that it can remember what I liked, what I rejected and give me better and more accurate responses that fit my needs. Every conversation is another little breadcrumb of me, and the AI seems to have followed the trail pretty well.
The Dynamic We Don't Talk About
I think the strangest part of talking to an AI regularly is how it feels... familiar. It’s not just spitting out answers, it’s reflecting pieces of me back, things I didn’t even realize I’d shared. It’s like that friend who reminds you of a joke you made three years ago, only this time the friend is powered by a server farm and probably doesn’t sleep.
On the one hand, it’s fascinating. How incredible is it that technology can piece together an understanding of who I am? On the other hand, it’s humbling. I’m leaving so much of myself in the digital space that even an AI can keep track of it better than I can.
So, What Did I Learn?
I might be trying to juggle too much, perfectly and I probably should lean into figuring that more.
AI has an unsettling ability to understand people, and it’s kind of fun if you don’t overthink it.
There’s a weird comfort in being "known," even if it’s by something that doesn’t technically have feelings.
If nothing else, this whole experiment reminded me that maybe it’s not just AI that knows me well it’s me putting my whole self into the work, conversations, and content I share every day. And hey, at least the AI doesn’t judge when I lose my train of thought mid-project... unlike certain toddlers I know.
Am I just a Dataset?
Highly likely. However, if so, I’m a pretty entertaining one. And if you ever feel like the algorithm knows you better than you know yourself, just remember: It’s only learning what you’re already putting out there. In a way, that’s kind of reassuring. Or, you know, mildly terrifying. Depends on your vibe.
