It’s useful, and perhaps inevitable, to use AI when researching, expanding your business or writing blog posts. But I’m not doing that today – not even for an edit.
Consider what teenagers crave today: an LP you can hold in your hands.
They like to listen to the sound emerging from the scratch of vinyl on disc.
What I’ve found interesting about using AI, and I’m no rocket scientist, as many would attest, is that it thinks way faster than we can. Its frame of reference is global. And you and I, well, we grew up in Wagga Wagga, Wisconsin, Vancouver or Madrid. We studied podiatry or plastering, Pilates or philanthropy.
You get the idea.
So, the trouble is that AI produces sophisticated, impressive (hallucinated or accurate) specialised research on areas with which our lifespan has not touched, yet we are immediately infatuated.
Stop.
Read. It.
Think about it; consider it; check it.
For example, I’m building an app. I am not a programmer, so I am not familiar with the contextual references and pain points that a programmer (as the AI) needs to address. This is something I needed to research before I even put “pen to paper”, so to speak. I needed to brainstorm my audience, constraints, parameters, preferences, and ultimately, my objectives – much more clearly than I did.
It saves a lot of iteration and circling back… e.g. ‘Never use “actually” – it’s redundant. Remove “Why this works”… (urgh).
Every step of the way, evaluation is important. I’ve found myself skimming and running. Skim and run… and trip; the adage applies:
More haste, less speed.
Consider carefully the amazing advice or output you just received. Then you know exactly how to refine your question, instruction or constraints.
It’s a new way of thinking, but interestingly, this has sharpened my capacity for critical thinking.
Ascension Editing 