Meeting JFK in the AI Era: The Most Unexpected Interview of My Semester

Have you ever imagined interviewing President John F. Kennedy? Honestly, neither had I. Yet somehow, thanks to AI, I found myself asking JFK questions about the Civil Rights Movement instead of stressing over another assignment for a while.

For this project, I used an AI chatbot to simulate an interview with Kennedy. My goal was to ask him ten questions about civil rights, segregation, and the challenges he faced during his presidency. At first, I felt like I had accidentally enrolled in a graduate-level history course. The AI generated questions filled with complicated political terms and historical concepts, and I spent more time decoding the questions than actually thinking about the answers.

Luckily, AI has one very useful skill: it can take a hint. After I asked for simpler language, the chatbot adjusted almost immediately. Suddenly, the questions became much easier to understand while still keeping the important historical information. Instead of feeling lost, I was able to focus on topics like the Birmingham protests, racial equality, the Cold War, and poverty.

This experience also made me think about how AI could be used in future classrooms. History lessons could become much more interactive if students could "talk" to historical figures instead of only reading about them. Imagine interviewing Atatürk about the founding of the Republic or asking Shakespeare why he made Macbeth such a disaster of a decision-maker. I think many students would find history and literature a lot more interesting this way.

For language learning, AI can also be really helpful. Students can practice reading and writing without worrying about making mistakes. Unlike some classmates, AI never rolls its eyes when you use the wrong tense for the fifth time.

Of course, AI is not perfect. Sometimes it can give incorrect information while sounding completely confident about it, which is honestly a little scary. It is also important not to depend on AI too much because real learning still comes from discussions, teachers, and human interaction.

Overall, this project showed me that AI can be a powerful learning tool when used responsibly. It made a complex historical topic feel more engaging and easier to understand. Plus, I can now say that I interviewed JFK from my laptop, which is probably the closest I'll ever get to time travel.

Below will find links and documents associated with this project:

Click here for a link to Google Doc.

And a link For the AI Chat Bot.