“A Week With an AI”
Learning objectives
After this exercise, you will be able to:
- script a realistic human–AI relationship over one week;
- judge whether an interaction feels like communication, tool use, or something in between;
- place a scenario on the displacement–augmentation spectrum and justify it with one of four conditions.
Key ideas you will use
| Idea | Meaning |
| Human–machine communication | A machine that generates responsive language can act as a communicator, not only a channel (Guzman & Lewis, 2020). |
| Media equation | People respond socially to responsive machines, even when they believe the machine is “just software” (Reeves & Nass). |
| Displacement | AI interaction substitutes for, and can erode, human relationships. |
| Augmentation | AI interaction supplements human connection without replacing it. |
| Four conditions | Intensity (how often), exclusivity (one outlet among many, or the only one), life stage (e.g., adolescent or adult), institutional context (personal choice or built into an institution). |
Roles
- In pairs: one partner writes and reads the persona’s lines; the other writes and reads the AI’s lines.
- In groups of four: one facilitator keeps time; one reporter presents in the plenary.
Steps and timing (45 minutes)
| Time | Step | What to do |
| 12 min | 1. Pair design | Choose one purpose: (a) scheduling and daily logistics; (b) emotional support during a stressful period; (c) decision advice; (d) casual companionship; (e) academic tutoring or office-hours substitution. Write a one-sentence backstory for your persona. Script three exchanges across the week, 4–6 lines each, as a real chat transcript (Part A–B). |
| 15 min | 2. Performance and debrief | Join another pair. Each pair performs one exchange aloud (max. 2 minutes). Discuss the three questions in Part C and agree on a spectrum placement and the key condition (Part D). |
| 13 min | 3. Plenary | Each group’s reporter presents (about 2 minutes): purposes, spectrum placement, key condition. |
| 5 min | 4. Reflection | Connect the class map to the two cases; write your reflection sentence (Part E). |
Worked example (purpose: emotional support — illustrative only; do not reuse it)
- Persona: “I bombed my methods exam today. I don’t even know if I should keep doing this degree.”
- AI: “That sounds like a genuinely rough day. Do you want to talk through what happened, or would it help more to just vent for a bit first?”
- Persona: “I guess… I studied so much and it still wasn’t enough.”
- AI: “It’s frustrating when effort and outcome don’t line up — that happens even to people who go on to do well in a field. What specifically felt hardest on the exam?”
Deliverable
Each pair hands in its answer sheet with the three scripted exchanges and its spectrum placement with a one-sentence justification. Each student keeps their reflection sentence.
Discussion questions
- Did the interaction feel like communication, tool use, or something in between — and which line of dialogue decided it?
- What did scripting reveal about how your persona related, or failed to relate, to real people during the week?
- Did writing three exchanges change how intense or routine the reliance felt?