Say it's 25C outside and 30C indoors. I want to bring the indoor temp down to 25C, but opening all the windows barely makes a dent. Does it make sense to have the AC turned on and set to 25C while I have the windows open? Or should I be closing them anyway?
On your point about drawing air in with the ac, most people without ac will try to use fans to achieve the same thing, often trying to run a fan from one open window aimed at another to pull air through the house. If you have multiple stories opening upper windows and blowing air out while pulling air in through lower windows is also effective. Adding a fan to blow air up the stairs can also help.