The Essential Question You Should Ask ChatGPT Today

Do you regularly use ChatGPT? Have you activated the “memory” feature, which allows the AI to remember important details about you and your preferences?

If so, take a moment to ask it this intriguing question: “From all of our interactions, what is one thing that you can tell me about myself that I may not know?”

This question was originally posed by Tom Morgan, founder of The Leading Edge newsletter and former director of client communications and marketing at Sapient Capital wealth management, on the social network X.

The responses from ChatGPT may surprise you, offering profound insights into your personality and work style. This interaction is likely to be effective with other AI chatbots that feature persistent memory, such as Anthropic’s Claude Sonnet 3.5.

For instance, when I asked this question using the GPT-4o model, I received a thoughtful response that highlighted an aspect of my identity—my profession as a journalist—showing the bot’s ability to draw from its memory and knowledge of our past conversations.

Many users have reported similarly insightful revelations. Even Sam Altman, co-founder and CEO of OpenAI, endorsed the trend on X by commenting “love this” and sharing Morgan’s original post.

Contrarily, some, like AI researcher Simon Willison, skeptically view the responses, likening them to a “horoscope generator.” However, I believe this perspective overlooks the potential for genuine insight. ChatGPT utilizes the information stored in its memory to provide personalized feedback, leading to meaningful self-discovery for users who have this feature enabled.

Additionally, users have varied the original prompt, experimenting with different underlying models, such as OpenAI’s new o1 preview reasoning model, to explore how the responses differ. Some have even reframed the question to provoke more brutally honest critiques or to request playful “roasts” in the style of a Comedy Central special.

Regardless of the type of question you choose to ask, engaging with ChatGPT or any AI chatbot can be a fascinating, entertaining, and enlightening experience. You may discover insights about yourself that inspire fresh perspectives or self-reflection.

As we approach the second anniversary of the generative AI era, marked by ChatGPT's November 2022 launch, it’s evident that AI's role in our lives and society is deepening. Exploring questions like these showcases the immense potential of AI beyond mere assistance with work or academics. The more we interact with these tools, the more innovative ways we find to use them.