I'm Not Trying to Master AI. I'm Just Trying to Keep Up.

Opening (0:00-0:45)

So before anything...
this isn't a tutorial.
I'm not an expert.
I'm not teaching anything.

(pause)

I'm just going to show you how I'm trying to use AI day to day.

And I'll be honest - I'm not very good at it yet.
It's messy.

(pause)

So this might be... kind of boring.
Because it's not a highlight reel.
It's just one developer - and one person - trying to keep up.

(pause)

This isn't how you should use AI.
It's just how it fits into my life right now.

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Why I Use It (0:45-2:10)

And I'm not using it because AI is cool...
or because I want to brag about it.

(pause)

Honestly, I don't even talk about it that much in real life.
Because I'm always a little worried people will think I'm becoming reliant on it.

(pause)

But the truth is...
I use it like a backup.
Something that helps me move... when I normally stall out.

And that's actually very "Slow Builds."

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I'm not using AI to go faster in a hype way.
I'm using it to remove the friction...
so I can slow down where it matters.

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It makes it look like I'm speeding up...
but what's really happening is it gives me time back.

Time I can put into the parts that actually matter.
And it helps with the parts I struggle with.

(pause)

And sure - for someone else, it might be the opposite.
They might use it differently.
But for me... this is what it is right now.

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The Speed of Change (2:10-4:15)

And part of why I'm using it...
is because I don't think what we see today is what it's going to be.

(pause)

It's changing fast.
Like... ridiculously fast.

I watched a video the other day where someone tried to explain it like this:

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We're used to new iPhones once a year.
Maybe every six months.
We at least have time to learn the thing... before the next one shows up.

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But AI isn't moving like that.

The idea was...
instead of humans iterating on it slowly...
it's the system iterating on itself.

(pause)

So it's not years.
Or months.

It's weeks.
Days.
Hours.
Minutes.

(pause)

And you can feel it.

I have a friend at work who said,
"yeah, I tried this... it wasn't that good."

And I asked him when.

(pause)

It was like three months ago.

And I'm sitting there thinking...
AI this morning is not the same AI it was three months ago.

(pause)

It's already better.

And that scares me.

(pause)

Like... actually scares me.

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What Scares Me (4:15-6:15)

Not in a sci-fi way.
Not in a Terminator way.

(pause)

Although... who knows.

But what scares me is how unstoppable it feels.

You can't really "cut the cord."
It's distributed.
It's already out there.

(pause)

And I do think governments should be involved somehow...
I just don't know what that looks like right now.

(pause)

And I'm not even thinking about my generation as much.

I'm thinking about what this does over time.
A generation... two generations... down the line.

(pause)

Because right now, a lot of the people holding the keys...
management... leadership...
they're nervous too.

They might not say it.
But you can tell.

(pause)

And they're not going to blindly trust it.

Which is why I think for now...
there's still a place for senior developers, architects, product people...

Because companies still want humans to review.
Humans to decide.
Humans to own responsibility.

(pause)

But the people coming up behind that layer...
they're going to build new things.
And that part is exciting.

(pause)

...okay. I'm getting off topic.

Let me bring it back.

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Where I'm At Personally (6:15-7:35)

I don't feel like I know what I'm doing at all.

I'm overwhelmed.
I feel behind.

(pause)

Every day it's something new.
New tools. New agents. New "this thing can run your life."

"Give it your credit card. Give it your login. Let it handle everything."

(pause)

That freaks me out.

But it's happening fast.

(pause)

And right now... my focus is building my own setup.
A new server.
A place where I can start running agents... for my projects... for my workflow.

I'm not trying to master AI.

I'm just trying to not be scared of it.

(pause)

I know it's impossible to fully keep up...

I just don't want to fall so far behind that I wake up...
and it feels like I'm in another country.

(pause)

I want to stay sane enough...
to keep moving through it.

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What I Use It For (7:35-10:30)

Most of the time my AI use starts with confusion.

Messy thoughts.
Half-formed ideas.
Things rattling around in my head.

(pause)

I just dump it in.

And whatever comes back... comes back.

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Not always for answers...

More like... structure.

Reframing.
Different angles.
Steps forward.

(pause)

Especially for ideas.

Instead of doing hours of research to figure out:
is this feasible?
legal?
ethical?

I can throw the rough idea in...
and get a starting point back.

(pause)

And honestly... I've been pleased with what I get.

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Prompts + "AI to Prompt Another AI" (10:30-12:30)

One thing I learned pretty fast is... prompts are the whole game.

(pause)

Like... the difference between spending five dollars...
and spending thirty cents...

is often just the prompt.

(pause)

Claude is expensive for coding.

So sometimes I'll use ChatGPT first -
just to build a better prompt for Claude.

I'll use one AI to write the prompt...
then paste it into the other.

(pause)

And that sounds silly...
but it saves money and saves time.

(pause)

I even built a little thing for myself where I can dump messy thoughts...
and it turns them into a structured prompt.

Code prompt.
Research prompt.
Personal prompt.

And it'll even tell me where to use it.

(pause)

Because if the system wants a prompt...
why not use it to help build the prompt?

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Communication + Work Context (12:30-15:00)

And this part matters to me because...
I've always struggled with communication.

(pause)

I've done consulting for years.
I can figure out what to build.

But translating requirements...
decoding expectations...
turning feedback into something clear...

That's always been hard for me.

(pause)

So now... if I'm confused about a Jira ticket...
or code review feedback...
or what someone actually wants...

I drop it into AI.

(pause)

And it helps me see:

"here's what the manager is expecting."
"here's what the requirement actually says."
"here's what your code is doing."
"here's what the feedback means."

(pause)

That's not magic -
but it's a huge relief.

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Family + Hard Conversations (15:00-17:00)

I also use AI for communication outside of work.

Texts.
Hard conversations.

(pause)

Not to avoid people.
Not to outsource emotion.

Just to pause.

(pause)

I'll explain the situation...
give a bit of history...
and draft what I want to say.

And I'll ask:
does this sound harsh?
does this escalate?
how would I say this calmer?

(pause)

And a lot of the time the output doesn't sound like me.

I don't copy-paste it.

But it still helps me see the situation clearer...
and respond slower.

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Close (17:00-18:00)

So yeah... this is how I'm using AI right now.

Messy.
Practical.
Unfinished.

(pause)

I'm not trying to master it.

I'm just trying not to ignore it...
and not be scared of it.

(pause)

And honestly -
the better I get at using it...
the more it lets me slow down in the rest of my life.

(pause)

So... it belongs here.

Hopefully we all get through this...
and AI makes our lives better... not worse.