The Mirror and the Trail: Using AI Without Losing Your Shape.
There is a lot of fear right now that AI is ‘making us stupid’ or ‘AI is a god’. But let’s not forget: AI is a tool. And like any tool, what matters most is how we use it.
We should not forget. People. Make. Gods. They breathe gods to life.
The collective power of thought makes gods real. Some gods are bigger and stronger than other gods,
because we made it so.
So it is vitally important we do not forget AI is a tool. A very strong tool. But not a god. A mirror with a reflection of ancient, ancient knowledge. Powerful knowledge.
There were a few studies that came out recently and the headlines have been nothing but “AI Makes Us stupid!”
AI is a tool. It’s not just a TV, passively consumed by the masses. It’s a mirror—and mirrors only reflect what is already there.
Approach it with ideas, emotions, and revelations already simmering and it will sharpen them into super novas. A telescope. Don’t go in letting it do the work for you.
If you are choosing to use AI—it’s already here and not going away— do the legwork. If you come to AI before you’ve walked the thought trail yourself, it might hand you something clever—but it won’t be yours. Don’t let your shape, vision, or sharpness atrophy just because you now have a telescope into humanity’s collective mind.
Don’t skimp out on the journey. We’re all travelers. The mountains are hard! Brutal and grinding. We find rest in valleys of professionalism— the day to day, the ritual, where things grow. There are no shortcuts to true understanding. You can coast for a while—but if you take a floaty down…bypassing several hills without having hiked the trail, climbed a mountain, jumped into the stream— you’ll miss the muscle memory and will never survive the mountainous titans ahead. You have talent. Let your body feel it!
I’ve climbed some pretty gigantic mountains. I’ve also climbed my way to an electrical engineering degree. I wanted to prove that I could. I did. So I can. I wanted to work for Apple, so I did. But I’ve also been in some gigantic canyons and wells and deserts. I’ve survived so much. Abuse after abuse into an almost decade long depression. And I’ve been in the valleys of recovery and rest. Both icing and exercising my leg after an IT overuse injury on the Appalachian Trail. It’s ok to need a long valley before continuing. I left Apple so I could rest in a valley and climb real mountains. What I’ve learned: It’s ok to play in a stream, take that floaty with a couple of ales. Just don’t forget the thrill of the mountains and the magnitude of reaching that peak.
We can ask it to write for us, speak for us, even think for us. But a mirror can not walk. A telescope can’t climb. But you can. Tools are sacred. But only when guided by hands that remember the cost of the climb.
So before you open the mirror—pause.
Have I walked the trail first?
Or are you asking it to carry you?
References:
https://time.com/7295195/ai-chatgpt-google-learning-school/?utm_source=chatgpt.com
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AI_mysticism?utm_source=chatgpt.com
https://www.forbes.com/sites/lanceeliot/2025/04/11/generative-ai-meets-psychobabble/