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machines. To create AI chatbots’ im­ pressive language capabilities, scientists and engineers have fed practically all the text on the internet into a type of computer systemdesigned to identify predictable patterns in human language. When you ask a chatbot to do some­ thing (also called giving it a prompt), it draws on the original data and patterns within its datasets to predict what words are most often associated with your request, using that information to come up with an answer. It doesn’t know, but it’s really good at guessing and mimicking how humans talk. There has been intense debate within the scientific community about whether we should categorize what AI does as “thinking.” Research has shown that AI chatbots behave in ways that resemble thinking or judgment, such as offering proactive help or suggestions—before you explicitly ask for them—tied to what it thinks youmight want to do (or hear) next. But while we know how AI models work overall, we can’t currently trace the internal decisions they make to arrive at each specific response. “The questions [about consciousness] are notoriously hard,” says Vincent Conitzer, a professor of computer sci­ ence and philosophy at Oxford and Car­ negie Mellon universities. “We really need to make progress on them if we truly want to understand in what ways we can say AI thinks.” But it’s safe to say that right now, AI is not like the sentient superintelligence you’ve seen inmovies. What Can You Do with AI? The sky really is the limit. I’ve heard of people using AI to make a picture book for their kids, create a workout plan and even name a puppy. One person toldme she uploaded photos of her feet and had the chatbot analyze her arch and the wear patterns on her shoes to recom­ mend running sneakers with the best fit. Another referred to AI as her per­ sonal chief of staff. At the end of the day, she opens up Claude and braindumps every worry, todo item and miscella­ neous thing lingering in her mind. Claude then organizes it into steps and creates her schedule for the week. Overall, AI tools can be incredibly useful for quickly synthesizing large amounts of data, breaking down com­ plex topics in a simple way, and pulling key themes from text (like summarizing a dense research paper or making sense of your own scattered notes). These tools can also work with images and videos—for example, when assembling furniture, I have uploaded photos of the parts and instructions so that AI could help me figure out a con­ fusing step. But one of the most popular ways to use AI is as a creative thought partner. AI chatbots can help you brainstorm and will act as a sounding board for you to bounce ideas off—whether you’re planning a garden, improving your résumé, writing a screenplay or strategizing marketing initiatives for your small business. I’ve interviewed countless executives and technology 54 may 2026 | readersdigest.com.au