You can’t learn what AI is by reading about it.
“You can’t learn what AI is by reading about it. You can only learn by using it.”
– Sam Altman
This week, I finally got it.
I’ve dabbled with AI over the past year — tested some prompts, explored the hype. But it wasn’t until this week that I made the leap from dabbler to designer.
I stopped tinkering. I paid for the subscription. And I started using AI intentionally.
And it blew my mind.
In just a few days with AI:
- Had a 20min realtime conversation and got tailored guidance on how to rebalance my investment portfolio
- Acted as a virtual medical specialist who helped diagnose a lingering shoulder issue
- Created a savy marketing strategist who could translate my rough ideas into keynote-ready narratives, complete with visuals
- Built an interactive learning quiz to test my own knowledge gaps about AI methods and prompt engineering
And yes — I even used it to help compose this post, summarizing the conversations I’ve had with AI over the past week.
Here’s what I’ve realized:
You don’t need to be technical.
You don’t need a grand strategy.
You just need to be curious.
You just need to start.
This isn’t a “read-the-manual” kind of technology — it’s something you learn by doing.
So if you’ve been waiting for the right moment to lean in — this is it.
Stop tinkering. Start building.