“You can’t help but take amazing photos with that camera!” “You must play beautiful music with that piano.” “Think of the delicious meals I could make with that range.” ( ⬅️ me, buying my first kitchen appliance.)
The camera. The piano. The range.
They’re tools.
I once spoke with a photographer who told me the compliment he hears most often actually stings. People praise the camera.
Not the years spent learning light. The instinct for timing. The judgment behind what not to shoot.
We do this all the time. We credit the tool for the outcome.
Generative AI—ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini—is no different.
It’s a tool.
It won’t turn a mediocre writer into a great one. It won’t turn a new grad into a seasoned strategist. It won’t replace judgment.
It can help. I use it. To find the word on the tip of my tongue. To spot gaps in an argument. To flag jargon I’ve stopped seeing.
But the tool doesn’t decide what matters. It doesn’t know what to cut. It doesn’t know your audience.
Skill does. Discernment does. Experience does.
The chef still cooks. The musician still plays. The writer still thinks.
“You must play beautiful music with that piano.”
“Think of the delicious meals I could make with that range.” ( ⬅️ me, buying my first kitchen appliance.)
The camera.
The piano.
The range.
They’re tools.
I once spoke with a photographer who told me the compliment he hears most often actually stings.
People praise the camera.
Not the years spent learning light.
The instinct for timing.
The judgment behind what not to shoot.
We do this all the time.
We credit the tool for the outcome.
Generative AI—ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini—is no different.
It’s a tool.
It won’t turn a mediocre writer into a great one.
It won’t turn a new grad into a seasoned strategist.
It won’t replace judgment.
It can help. I use it.
To find the word on the tip of my tongue.
To spot gaps in an argument.
To flag jargon I’ve stopped seeing.
But the tool doesn’t decide what matters.
It doesn’t know what to cut.
It doesn’t know your audience.
Skill does.
Discernment does.
Experience does.
The chef still cooks.
The musician still plays.
The writer still thinks.
The tool just sits there…waiting to be used well.