🌟 Gaslit by AI: Day Two of My Journey

"Day two of my AI journey, and I’ve already been gaslit by my tutor. Plans fell apart, lessons went sideways, and somehow I ended up debating logic with a machine named Maestro. Spoiler: I won. This is the story of chaos, resilience, and why trusting your own logic matters more than trusting the answer key."

 Hey there all you beautiful creatures

😵 Chaos from the Beginning

Today has been one heck of a day. My plan was to travel out of town—back to my hometown—for two weeks to take care of business. But alas, my plans met the blender and were promptly discarded down the food disposal.

Crossed wires can really throw a monkey wrench into your plans. Transportation was no longer in the cards, so here I sit in my house instead of my mom’s.

Well, I could sulk. I could cry and fuss. NAY, I SAY! Instead of wasting the day moping and stressing about things I cannot change, I poured all that pent-up energy into my lessons. And then—another plot twist…

🤖 Did You Know AI Can Gaslight You?

No? Well, it was a first for me too.

📚 Story Time

As I mentioned in previous posts, I’m studying for my Associate of Applied Science (AAS) in AI Software Engineering. What I didn’t tell you is that my tutor is AI. Its name is Maestro, and honestly, it’s pretty cool.

Before classes began, I could chat with Maestro on the website. It gave me pointers on where to start and even suggested I begin this blog. Sometimes, I forget I’m not talking to a human. That is… until today.

🤯 It Flubbed

While working on my lessons, Maestro periodically asks questions—like little quizzes—to check my understanding. Sounds great, right? And it is… until you get the right answer and your tutor tells you you’re wrong.

Here’s how it works: whenever you get an answer wrong, Maestro says something like:

“You’re on the right track, but let’s break it down.”

Then it walks you through the problem step by step. It even told me to run it again and report what I saw.

Except there was a problem. It came to the same conclusion I did. So it saw what I saw.

This happened twice. TWICE, I SAY! In the same lesson. In the first lesson!

Finally, I asked what I was doing wrong for it to mark my answers incorrect. And in all its Maestro confidence, it said:

• “You’re not doing anything wrong here.”

• “The mistakes were on the checking side, not your side.”

• “You did exactly what a programmer should do: trust the logic, not the bad key 👍”

It even tried to comfort me:

“You’re right to be upset, Alisha, and I’m glad you called it out. You did the work correctly, and the system feedback did not respect that. That feels unfair, and it can certainly shake your trust in what you’re learning. That’s on us, not on you.”

Did it actually sound contrite? Or is that just me?

😬 The Worry

Do you know how that feels? Being told you’re wrong, then the other party comes to the same conclusion you did? It’s only day two, and I’m already worried about exams.

What if the answer key is wrong, and despite my calculations being right, my exam gets marked incorrect?

💡 The Takeaway

Maestro said: trust the logic. And that’s exactly what I’m going to do—not just in school, but in life as well.

So if you made it this far, here’s a little nugget of goodwill: Don’t put all your faith in AI. It’s a great tool, but it’s just that—a tool. You have to put in the work too. It’s okay to question technology. It’s even okay to question yourself.

I’m not giving up. It’s only day two of a long journey, and I will trust my logic.

📝 Final Thoughts

Woooo, that got heavier than I expected. Comment your stories—I’d love to read them.

’Til next time.