Future Tension: Why You Can’t Interview Yourself (#184) — Transcript
Updated: Oct 26
THE PICTURE OF WEALTH · EPISODE 184
Can an AI interview give you the same insight as a conversation with another person? Dustin Serviss tests that idea with Thor, an AI assistant, and reflects on what the experiment reveals about curiosity and human connection.
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This transcript was generated from the episode audio and lightly edited for readability. It may contain transcription or speaker-attribution errors. Refer to the recording for exact wording.
Chapters
[00:00:00] Setting up an AI interview experiment
[00:00:57] Thor asks about being present for your children
[00:01:14] Why the conversation feels different
[00:02:55] What other people bring to your thinking
[00:04:27] A question for your future self
[00:04:51] Permission to experiment without a fixed outcome
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Transcript
[00:00:00] Dustin Serviss: Alright, listener. This is, this is... This was a fun one. So I'm not gonna give away the episode. It is not my best publication for audio quality due to trying to... As you'll you'll hear in the episode what I'm doing, the softwares don't match up quite nicely, and so I had to do a little bit of manual labor with the equipment that I have. So I will leave it at that, but I hope you get something on this episode as I sure did. And I look forward to ramping up the podcast and getting real humans back on the show and enjoying the connection that comes and the beauty of the medium of podcasting.
[00:00:48] Dustin Serviss: So without further ado, here's this week's episode. Hey, Thor. Let's go let's go with a new question. Please read it out loud.
[00:00:57] Thor (AI assistant): Absolutely. Here's your next question coming right up. When your kids were young and everything in the world felt like it was pulling for their attention, what did you do to help them feel your presence, not just see it, even when you didn't have all the answers? Take your time with us, Don, so we'll keep exploring.
[00:01:14] Dustin Serviss: I mean, that's a great question, Thor. And I think getting set up here for the answer... The answer is a little more difficult. I'm feeling a sense of not connection as much as when I do a real world podcast with a person. So the theory of this experiment was to upload all of my current process and thinking and have myself interview myself and see what that loop would be like. And I'm not really feeling it, Thor, to be honest.
[00:01:49] Thor (AI assistant): I completely get that into service. Sometimes the magic of a real word conversation just can't be fully replicated by any simulation or loop. There's a certain spark in that human to human dynamic that just feels different. So it's completely okay if this doesn't quite hit the same note. We've explored the idea, and that's valuable in itself. Let's just treat it as a stepping stone, and we can always pivot to something else that feels more authentic.
[00:02:10] Dustin Serviss: Is there anything that you can source on the Internet or socials that would say that this is actually a thing, or is it just something that I've come across right now?
[00:02:32] Thor (AI assistant): So from what I found, the idea of interviewing your future self is definitely something that people have explored as a personal growth exercise. It's using some podcasts and self reflection formats to gain clarity and perspective. The main takeaway away is that it can help you think about long term goals and emotional insights by imagining a conversation with a wiser future version of yourself. So it's not just you. It's actually known practice that some people do time meaningful.
[00:02:55] Dustin Serviss: Well, I guess where I'm kinda at and what I'm kinda realizing by doing this is I don't know everything in the world. So my little slice of knowledge versus interviewing other people is actually a lot less, I don't wanna say valuable to myself, but for getting different perspectives for gaining other insights, and for breaking thought loops that might not be productive in my life. Having other people, you know, give me reference or give me insight or share stories, which again, that, you know, personally, I would say that that is, what I love about doing podcasts is interviewing people and hearing stories and,
[00:03:33] Dustin Serviss: you know, stories with real people opposed to, like, hard data.
[00:03:37] Thor (AI assistant): That makes a lot of sense. I think we should noticing is that the richness of podcasting often comes from those human stories and those unexpected angles that other people bring in. It's that spark of someone else's lived experience that can shift your thinking or open up new pathways. So while self reflection is valuable, there's definitely a unique magic in those real conversations with others. It sounds like you're finding clarity in that, and that's a great insight to have.
[00:03:58] Dustin Serviss: Have. I would ask you, is there any question you could ask me that would prompt some sort of growth or finish off this experiment in, you know, again, getting more out of it? Again, the beauty of this experiment is, there... I don't really care what the outcome is, and this is an outcome in itself. So is there anything else that you would recommend I close off this experiment by doing or having you search or prompt?
[00:04:27] Thor (AI assistant): Absolutely. Let's bring a full circle with a question that might help you reflect and get a little more out of this experiment. Here it is. If you look back on this exact moment a year from now, what's one insight or realization you wanna have gained from trying this out? Even if it's just about how you approach future conversations or how you see your own growth, what would you hope to take away? Feel free to let that question percolate and see what comes up. And if there's anything else you
[00:04:51] Dustin Serviss: need, I'm here. Okay. I would say that, in a year, basically, just explaining to myself that it's okay to experiment, which is something that, I don't think we do enough of, and I see it in children in their constant day to day activities is one big experiment. And they're just, you know, playing for the sake of playing. They are trying things for the sake of trying it, and they aren't bogged down with sort of a lifetime of, what we should do, what we shouldn't do, and all the different, you know, kind of the the decision gates that sort of say, you know, you should go this way
[00:05:27] Dustin Serviss: or this way based on different outcomes, how we predict and how we make assumptions through life, which can be helpful when you're managing certain kind of risk. But at the same time, if certain... If the environment is safe and you are able to try things, you end up, like, doing things like this where there was no, designated outcome, and here I am talking to myself. So thank you for for the questions today.
[00:05:57] Thor (AI assistant): You're absolutely welcome and I think that's a perfect insight to wrap on. Embracing that spirit of experimentation really is a way of tapping back into that childlike curiosity where it's okay not to have a fixed outcome and it's okay to just try something for the sake of learning.