04AI
When I don't use AI
I use models daily for research, analysis and writing. There are three moments in a project when I switch them off entirely.
Preview: the essays here are placeholders until the real ones are published.
This isn't an essay against AI. The prompts I publish in the Lab are part of my daily work. But the speed models give tempts you to skip steps that shouldn't be skipped.
01When I'm listening to users
In an interview I want to hear the hesitation, the contradiction, the sentence a user says and then takes back. An automatic summary cleans all of that away, and it is exactly what I'm looking for.1
02When I decide the structure
A model suggests what is common. The structure of one company's system must come from its own business rules, not from the average of thousands of other systems.
Speed helps once you know the direction, and hurts before it.
03When I tell a client “no”
A professional no needs a personal tone and an understanding of the relationship. Those messages I write myself, slowly.