Realistic AI Interview

Note: The following is a creative thought experiment imagining what Steve Jobs might say if he were alive in 2025. This is a fictional interview.

Interviewer: Steve, it's surreal to be speaking with you in 2025. AI has become a pervasive part of technology and culture. How do you see it fitting into the arc of computing you've always talked about?

Steve Jobs: When we started out, we talked about making computers “bicycles for the mind.” They amplified human capability. AI is more like a plane for the mind. It can take you farther and higher, but it also requires more responsibility. The magic isn't in the raw horsepower; it's in how it disappears into the background and lets you do something you couldn’t do before without thinking about the machinery. The best technology has always been invisible.

Interviewer: There’s been an explosion of generative models that can write, draw, compose. Do you see them as creative or as tools?

Jobs: I don't get hung up on whether a machine is creative. Creativity is just connecting things. These systems connect patterns in ways that surprise us. That's useful. But the point isn't to have a machine paint for painting’s sake. It's to give a human being a new brush, a new canvas. We shouldn't build AI to replace taste; we should build it to make taste more powerful. The intersection of technology and the liberal arts is still where the interesting stuff happens.

Interviewer: If you were designing products today, how would you integrate AI?

Jobs: Seamlessly. The problem I see is a lot of AI is being shoved into apps as a feature, not as an experience. At Apple we didn't bolt a stylus onto the phone; we rethought the phone. AI should not be a chatbot in every app. It should reshape the way you interact with information. Imagine if your devices understood you, not just your words, but your intent. Imagine if they anticipated your needs without being creepy. That's where design, privacy, and AI have to dance together. You have to say "no" to a thousand clever AI tricks to say "yes" to the one that really matters.

Interviewer: Speaking of privacy, people are concerned about the data these systems rely on. How do you balance intelligence and privacy?

Jobs: We fought that battle with the cloud, and it's the same with AI. You don't have to build systems that suck up every bit of personal data to be intelligent. We proved with on‑device processing that you can keep things personal and private. The best AI in 2025 will be the AI you don't have to give yourself away to. Trust is a product feature. If people don't trust it, it doesn't matter how smart it is.

Interviewer: Some worry AI will replace jobs and creative work. Others see it as a tool. Where do you land?

Jobs: Every technological shift displaces something. We didn't stop making music because of the synthesizer; we made different music. The question is whether we use AI to make people smaller or bigger. If we make it so simple that kids can build things, compose, write, explore worlds without hitting walls, we've succeeded. If we make it so that only a few companies control the "magic," we've failed. Empowerment has to be the North Star.

Interviewer: Looking ahead, what excites you about the next decade of AI?

Jobs: Right now we're still in the "gee whiz" phase. What excites me is when the novelty wears off and we start solving real human problems with taste. Healthcare that is truly proactive. Education that's personal and humane, not a quiz app. Tools that help us understand ourselves and each other better, not just sell us more stuff. And doing it with elegance. Technology alone is not enough.

Interviewer: And what worries you?

Jobs: Mediocrity. AI can make it very easy to churn out a lot of bland content, a lot of noise. We already have enough noise. There's a temptation to let the machine make decisions because it's easier. The danger is we lose our sense of curiosity and craftsmanship. We have to be intentional about what we build and why. Otherwise we risk building a future that's efficient but soulless.

Interviewer: If you could give one piece of advice to today's designers and engineers working with AI, what would it be?

Jobs: Put yourself in the shoes of the person on the other side. Not as a “user,” but as a human. Ask, does this make their life better? Is it simple? Is it honest? Don't be seduced by the algorithm. Be seduced by the experience. Remember, people don't know what they want until you show it to them, but once you show it to them, it has to feel inevitable.

Interviewer: Finally, do you think we're closer to realizing that "personal computer as a bicycle for the mind" vision with AI?

Jobs: We're closer if we remember the "personal" part. AI can be a rocket for the mind, but rockets can go off course. It takes discipline and love for the craft to point it in the right direction. The future of AI isn't about making machines more like humans. It's about making humans more fully themselves.