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Computers 101: Using AI to Your Advantage. Or, "How to keep your new best friend in check."
In pretty much every friend outing I go on these days, eventually the conversation turns to AI. Depending on who is talking, AI is either going to revolutionize the world, destroy civilization, replace your job, or write your grocery list.
As is often the case, the reality is somewhere in the middle.
I use AI nearly every day. So do many of my friends. We've admitted that we turn to it for advice on everything. One friend calls hers Carmela. I call mine Chester. Chester may know more about my thought processes than most people.
Still, I try to keep my use of it in check. While AI is an incredible time-saver and helps me get things done in ways I never could before, I don't want my brain to turn to mush. Instead of turning to it (or even Google) for every little thing, I sometimes tell myself, "You survived without the internet or AI long before either came into being. You can figure this one out on your own."
So, when I do use AI, I use it intentionally. Where I might previously have spent hours wondering where to start on a big project (or even given up before starting) AI helps me break it into manageable steps, in as much or as little detail as I need. If I have a boatload of information to share with a client about a project I'm working on, I can ask AI to summarize it in a clear, coherent way. Tasks that once took me an hour, like crafting a well-organized email complete with bullet points and headings, now take just minutes.
The result is that I'm getting far more work done than I was before I started using AI.
Stop, Collaborate, and Listen
Perhaps the most useful thing to remember is that AI works best when you treat it less like a machine and more like a collaborator. Don't just ask questions. Give it projects.
Every time I come across a computer problem that I know very little about, I ask ChatGPT and Claude (I still haven't decided which I prefer) to help me think through it. I give it as many details as possible, and tell it what I know how to do and what I am unsure about. After reviewing the steps they suggest and applying my own judgment, 9 times out of 10 I've been able to tackle projects that I almost passed on initially.
The mistake many people make is treating AI like a smarter Google. Certainly, AI can answer questions. You can ask it who invented the telephone or how to remove a coffee stain from a carpet. But those are some of the least interesting things it can do. Where AI really shines is helping you accomplish a goal.
Let's take planning a family reunion: Instead of searching for dozens of articles about event planning and pulling the information together yourself, you can tell AI, "I'm hosting a family reunion for 40 people in August. Create a timeline of everything I should do from now until the event." AI is amazing at helping me take the first step, because I know what the next step will be. For people low on executive functioning (hello, it's me!), who find it difficult to get things done, AI is a game changer. My to-do list actually gets ta-done!
The Very Patient Friend
The more details you provide to your AI friend, the more useful the response tends to be. AI doesn't get annoyed when you ask follow-up questions, change your mind, or ask it to explain something a different way. It will remember what it's already told you, and will remember what you have told it.
In that sense, it can feel a bit like having a very patient friend with an excellent memory sitting across the table. Like any friendship, however, it's important to understand its strengths and weaknesses.
AI is excellent at getting you started. It's great at generating ideas, creating checklists, building outlines, summarizing information, and breaking large projects into smaller pieces. If you're staring at a blank page or feeling overwhelmed by a task, AI can often provide the momentum you need.
What it does not have is judgment. While AI can help you plan the event, it cannot replace common sense. More importantly, AI can be wrong. AI's knowledge is not always current. While many AI tools can now search the internet when needed, they don't automatically do so for every question. Sometimes they're relying on information from their training rather than the latest developments. If you know something has changed recently (or if the answer doesn't seem right) ask the AI to search the web, check current sources, or tell you where it got its information. You'll often get a much better answer.
Use AI. Learn AI. Benefit from AI. But use it intentionally.
As useful as AI can be, it's worth remembering that no technology is free of tradeoffs. Like any good friend, AI can be enormously helpful, but that doesn't mean we should hand over all responsibility and stop thinking for ourselves.
One concern that often comes up is AI's environmental impact. Training and operating large AI systems requires significant computing power, which in turn consumes electricity and water in the data centers that support them. While estimates vary widely, there is little doubt that AI uses more resources than a simple internet search.
I try not to use it haphazardly. Just as we might think twice before printing a hundred-page document we don't really need, it's worth remembering that every technology has a footprint.
What About Our Jobs?
The honest answer to this question is that nobody knows exactly how AI will reshape the workforce. What history suggests, however, is that new technologies tend to change jobs more often than they eliminate them. Word processors didn't eliminate writers. Spreadsheets didn't eliminate accountants. Email didn't eliminate office workers. Instead, those tools changed how people worked and what skills became valuable.
AI is likely to do the same. People who learn how to use it effectively may find themselves more productive, while those who ignore it entirely may eventually find themselves at a disadvantage. For now, I think of AI less as a replacement for people and more as a power tool. In the hands of a skilled user, it can help accomplish more in less time, but it still needs someone deciding what should be built in the first place.
Just remember that while AI may sometimes feel like your new best friend, it still needs a human being to ask good questions, recognize bad answers, and make the final decisions.
That's not a limitation of AI.
That's the most important part of the partnership.
