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Tope Olofin's avatar

I think AI has acted in all these capacities for me, depending on what I want to achieve. But in my writing I lean more to it acting as a partner.

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James Presbitero's avatar

Equal parts teacher and partner for me! I feel like I learn so much quicker prompting AI.

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Petar Dimov's avatar

Your breakdown of AI as teacher, partner, and secretary offers a clear roadmap for creators battling the blank-page syndrome!

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James Presbitero's avatar

Appreciate that! That mental model helps me stay grounded: teacher sharpens thinking, partner expands ideas, secretary accelerates execution. The key is knowing when to shift roles. Staying mindful so AI amplifies your intent, not just fills space.

That’s how you build antifragile systems that actually get better the more you use them.

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Roi Ezra's avatar

This is a sharp honest take about how creative friction doesn’t disappear with AI, it just shapeshifts. I’ve found that prompting isn’t about removing friction, but understanding it.

The real power doesn’t come from finding the right prompt.

It comes from knowing what in you is ready to be shaped, and what isn’t.

AI helps me work faster only when I’ve slowed down enough to know what matters.

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James Presbitero's avatar

Exactly. The friction doesn’t vanish, it evolves. Prompting forces you to confront your own clarity gaps. The real unlock is upstream: slowing down to sharpen intent before you ever type a prompt. That’s the core of my approach :D Thank you for reading!!

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Angel Peguero's avatar

loved this! Thanks 🙏🏽

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Chintan Zalani's avatar

Nice one, James. I feel like I kind of like it having all these roles depending on the task at hand haha! I think if you have a ready made project or custom GPT etc it definitely helps avoid the blank page. But not across all use cases :)

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James Presbitero's avatar

Yeah, not across all use cases for sure. You've got to be the one to determine when it's most useful, and when it can be more detrimental to have such a tool.

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Chintan Zalani's avatar

For sure James. That makes sense!

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Jenny Ouyang's avatar

Love it! We have the similar sort of AI partners :)

And definitely agree on "Used mindfully, AI demands more of you", sometimes, I try to avoid using AI because I want to avoid that extended level of thinking lol..

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James Presbitero's avatar

😆😆 I get it. Sometimes it's really just also good to stretch out your own thinking muscles, like walking or running hahaha

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