My First Conversation with ChatGPT (February 22, 2023): Origins of a Generative Dialogue

Authors

David Smith, CUNY New York City College of TechnologyFollow

Document Type

Working Paper

Publication Date

12-9-2025

Abstract

This working paper presents the first recorded interaction between the author and the generative AI system ChatGPT, written on February 22, 2023 during the initial weeks of a faculty sabbatical in Boston. The document preserves a complete and unedited transcript of an exploratory conversation conducted without predetermined research aims, marking the author’s first encounter with a large-language-model conversational interface. Although the exchange includes creative experimentation—including musical and poetic prompts—the discussion remains informal and wide-ranging, and no theoretical framework is articulated at this stage. Rather, this transcript is published as primary-source material documenting the moment of discovery and experimentation that precedes a longer series of human–AI dialogues conducted later in 2023. The conversation is reproduced verbatim and is intended to serve as a historical record of the author’s initial engagement with generative AI during a pivotal moment of rapid technological emergence.

Comments

This working paper documents the author’s first interaction with ChatGPT on February 22, 2023, recorded during a sabbatical in Boston. The transcript is reproduced verbatim and offers a historical snapshot of early engagement with generative AI, including informal creative experimentation with music and text.