Are we using AI to skip the work, or to upgrade our skills?
I think one of the biggest mistakes people make with AI is only using it to get things done faster.
Write this email. Summarize this document. Build this outline. Give me the answer. While that all very useful I still think that barely scratches the surface of what AI can actually do. One of the biggest mindset shifts for me has been using AI not just to do the work for me, but to help me understand the work better.
I saw this shift firsthand when I was trying to wrap my head around advanced API workflows (I didn’t even know what “API” meant at the time). Instead of just asking an LLM to write the script so I could copy-paste it and move on, I asked it to act as my senior mentor. I’d ask:
- “Why are we doing it this way?”
- “What could break here?”
- “Walk me through the logic.”
- “Quiz me to make sure I actually understand it.”
I had it break down the logic step-by-step, explain the potential fail points, and quiz me on my understanding. Things that probably would have taken me weeks of reading documentation, testing, and trying to piece everything together started clicking much faster.
That’s why when we talk about AI adoption, especially with people who are just getting started, I think we need to move beyond positioning AI as just a productivity tool. Sometimes the best use of AI isn’t having it do something for you. It’s having it teach you how to do something you didn’t know how to do before.
That’s where I think a lot of the real value is.
So I’m curious: Are you using AI mostly to get things done, or are you using it to actually learn how things work? What’s something AI has helped you learn that you probably wouldn’t have tackled otherwise?