What most people don’t get about AI

Hey there, it’s Darius Foroux. You’re receiving this Short Take post because you signed up for my Medium newsletter.

I’m publishing it here on Medium and on Substack (where these pieces will appear first).

Until a month ago, everyone I knew fell into one of two camps when it came to AI.

There were the evangelists — the ones acting like kids in a candy store, wide-eyed and hyped up on the endless possibilities. They tried every tool, chased every hack, and swore AI would change everything overnight.

But mostly, they just did things like creating a visual clone of themselves that’s talking in a different language. Basically, some useless things.

And that gave the other group, the deniers, enough reasons to be skeptical.

The ones who scoffed at AI dismissed it as a gimmick and swore they’d never use it. They saw it as a threat or just another tech fad they could ignore.

Both groups missed the point.

AI isn’t some magic trick, and it’s not the enemy. It’s a tool. And like any tool, it only matters if you use it properly.

What AI isn’t about:

• Prompts
• 100 different apps
• Changing your daily life

Have you ever seen those stupid posts about writing AI prompts? Stuff like, “You’re using AI wrong. Here are 10 prompts that will turn you into a superhuman!!”

Thanks buddy. Your prompts are useless because you don’t get the point.

AI isn’t about prompts. You can use AI just by chatting or talking to it, and it will figure out what you mean.

AI should do only one thing for you: Make your current life and work easier.

• You don’t need to use 10 different AI apps
• You don’t need to study the science of writing prompts
• You don’t need to become a content creator

Look, since AI came out, I didn’t change what I do.

I still write, think, and edit. AI just makes me faster. That’s all.

Meanwhile, other people abandon their craft to become “AI experts.” They chase hacks instead of honing their skills.

They change their work and career instead of improving it.

That’s the wrong move. AI won’t save people who don’t have real skills or hop from one career to the other.

But for those who are serious about their work?

The truth is simple. AI doesn’t replace skill. It amplifies it.

Once I realized this, I created an online course called ‘Ai basics,” which teaches the skill of working with AI.

That’s because until recently, AI was not that useful. But it’s getting better and better, this is why the deniers are also interested in it.

Because if you’re good at what you do, AI makes you better. It takes the grind out of the process. It lets you focus on the work that actually matters.

If you’re bad at what you do, AI won’t save you. It might make you faster, but it won’t make you good.

And if you replace real thinking with AI shortcuts, you’ll just end up with mediocre results faster than ever before.

That’s what most people don’t get.

AI isn’t the thing that makes you great. It’s the thing that lets you spend more time doing great work. But YOU still have to do the work.