I use AI a lot. Probably more than most people I know.
I use it for all kinds of things—research, organizing information, challenging an idea, working through different scenarios, helping me make sense of something complicated. Sometimes I already know what I want to do and I just want another set of eyes on it. Or maybe another set of very fast, slightly nerdy eyes. 😂
And the more I use it, the more I realize I don’t really see AI as something that’s replacing what I know.
If anything, I think knowing what you’re doing makes AI considerably more useful.
Because AI can give you an answer very quickly. That doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the right answer.
I’ve definitely had moments where it gives me something and I think, Okay, that’s really good. I hadn’t thought about it that way.
I’ve also had plenty where I read the answer and think, Yeah…no. 😏
And that’s where experience comes in.
If I’m asking about something I understand well, I know enough to recognize when something feels off. I can question it. I can give it more information or explain why I don’t think its answer works and see where we end up.
Sometimes I’m wrong.
Sometimes AI is wrong.
Sometimes we go back and forth a few times and land somewhere better than where either of us started. Which is actually one of the things I enjoy most about using it.
I think the question matters as much as the answer
I’ve noticed that the more I know about a subject, the better I am at using AI for that subject.
Not because I have some magical prompt formula. I don’t.
I just know what to ask.
I know what information might be missing. I know when the circumstances matter. I know enough to say, Okay, but what happens if we look at it this way? Or That doesn’t sound right. Check it again.
And sometimes I’ll ask it what I’m missing because, well, maybe I’m missing something.
That’s useful to me.
What I don’t want is to hand over the thinking part completely.
I don’t want AI making a decision for me just because it produced a very confident-looking answer in four seconds.
And AI can be very confident. 😂
It’s more of a brainstorming partner for me
That’s probably the best way I can describe how I use it.
It’s like having a brainstorming partner who has read an absurd amount of stuff, doesn’t get tired of my questions and is available whenever my brain decides it wants to work something out.
Sometimes that’s at a perfectly reasonable hour.
Sometimes it’s not. 😂
It can help me take something that’s bouncing around in my head and get it into some kind of order. It can show me another way of looking at something. And sometimes just explaining what I’m thinking to AI helps me realize what I think about it.
But I still have to bring something to the conversation.
My own experience. What I know about the situation. What I know about people. The things I’ve learned from doing this for years. And, probably most importantly, my judgment.
That combination is where I think AI gets really interesting.
Maybe judgment becomes more valuable
There’s so much conversation about what AI is eventually going to replace, and I don’t pretend to know where all of this is going.
But I keep coming back to something.
If information becomes incredibly easy for everyone to get, maybe simply having information isn’t the advantage anymore.
Maybe the advantage is knowing what matters.
Knowing what’s relevant to the situation in front of you. Knowing when something doesn’t quite add up. Knowing what question to ask next. Knowing when you need more information before making a decision.
Basically, knowing what to do with everything AI can give you.
I use AI constantly, and I expect I’ll probably use it even more as it gets better.
I just don’t want it doing my thinking for me.
I’d rather have it help me think better.
There’s a difference.
And I’m curious about this one—where has AI actually made you better at what you do? And where do you still find yourself saying, “Yeah…no. I know better than that.”? 😂
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