AI is not a utility

I use AI every day, but I don't rely on it.

It could be gone tomorrow, and I could still do my job just as well as I did before. Sure, some things would take longer, but I could still do it.

I don't rely on it like I rely on my computer, the Internet, or electricity. Without those things, I'm toast.

Some folks talk about AI as though it should be a utility. "Just turn on the intelligence tap". I think this is a trap. This is how we lose our edge, our ability to think, to solve tough problems. It shouldn't flow like water—it should be something we deploy when necessary.

I've come to think of AI as my second brain, my clutch team. When I need some feedback, or ideas, or someone else to pick up the slack, I turn it on.

It's a force multiplier. It gives me more bandwidth. It does the work that's boring or time-consuming. It guides me on topics that are outside my wheelhouse.

But I have a secret weapon that lets me turn it on and use it to its full potential when I need it, without relying on it to succeed: experience. I've been around the block more times than I can count, I have the t-shirt, all that.

But guess who doesn't have experience and who is using AI anyway: our kids. I worry about what this will mean for them. They might treat it like their first brain, instead of their second, and so it will become a utility, something they need, like water, air, or electricity.

We have to prevent that future at all costs.