AI: For Producing or For Thinking?
Everyone's using AI wrong.
We want to produce content fast. Emails in seconds, outlines in milliseconds, posts instantly. "10x your productivity!"
But here's what they don't tell you: the real power of AI isn't going faster. It's thinking deeper.
The Productivity Trap
You write emails in 30 seconds instead of 5 minutes. Great. But do you actually want to send those emails?
Going faster, sure. But toward what?
It's like pedaling harder on a bike that's going nowhere.
What AI Taught Me While Building AskMojo
The real value isn't the code AI writes. It's the conversations—bouncing ideas, exploring approaches, untangling problems out loud.
AI never tires of your questions. It doesn't judge half-formed ideas. It doesn't rush you.
When I had to make product decisions, AI helped me think through the implications. Not by giving answers—by asking better questions:
"What happens if this works? What if it doesn't?"
"What does this decision say about who you're building for?"
That's not productivity. That's a thinking partnership.
Your Gap Detector
You don't know what you don't know. AI does.
This is one of the biggest problems in decision-making. You can't see your own blind spots. AI detects what you're missing.
"Based on what you've shared, here are three things you might not have considered..."
"There's a framework from another field that could help..."
It's not that AI knows more than you. It's that AI helps you see what you're missing.
Thinking Together
The most powerful AI conversations aren't about producing content. They're about exploring ideas.
AI can help you:
- Decompose problems. Break them into pieces. What depends on what?
- Explore consequences. What if it works? What if it fails? The ripple effects you haven't considered.
- Challenge assumptions. What are you taking for granted? What if you're wrong?
- Shift perspectives. How would someone else approach this?
- Bridge knowledge. What patterns from other fields might apply here?
This is thinking work. The kind that actually moves things forward.
The Foundation Problem
Here's the catch: AI can't help you think if it doesn't know how you think.
Generic AI gives generic advice. "Focus on your customers." "Follow your passion." That's hollow. Not very helpful.
For AI to be a real thinking partner, it needs your context:
- What problems do you care about?
- What are you working toward?
- What are your real goals—not the ones you display?
Without this foundation, AI stays surface-level.
What No One Dares Tell You
With context, AI becomes something your friends can't be: completely honest.
AI has no emotional investment in your ego. It can point out the contradictions you've been avoiding:
"You said this goal was important six months ago. Your actions say otherwise. Which is true?"
"You want to build something important. But you spend your days on trivia. Why?"
This isn't AI being mean. This is AI being useful.
The Question That Changes Everything
Classic question: "How can AI save me time?"
Better question: "How can AI help me think more clearly?"
Better thinking → better decisions → better outcomes. Execution speed becomes irrelevant when you're working on the right things.
What This Looks Like
Don't ask AI to write your strategy. Ask it to help you think through your strategy.
Don't ask AI to solve your problem. Ask it to help you understand your problem.
Don't ask AI for answers. Ask it for better questions.
Where to Start
Define what truly matters to you. Your problems, missions, goals. It's uncomfortable work. That's the point.
Once AI understands your context, it becomes a thinking partner that helps you grow. And it's growth—not execution speed—that truly changes your life.