There's only one acceptable answer to "Did you use AI for this?"

And it's not what you think.

But first, an embarrassing story: Just last week, I spent 45 minutes meticulously comparing GPT outputs with their instructions, carefully noting differences and brainstorming improvements.

Want to guess what I realized after those 45 minutes?

I could have asked AI to do the comparison and suggest revisions. In one minute. And it would have done a better job.

Here's what's even better: this happened three days AFTER I wrote about using AI to help you use AI better. Sometimes we all need a reminder.

The shift to an AI-first mindset isn't just about saving time. It's about recognizing a fundamental truth: AI isn't a tool you might want to use. It's an amplifier you'd be reckless not to use.

"It's so stupid and reckless and lazy and limited, I have no words for it," says Brice Challamel, Head of AI at Moderna, about doing knowledge work without AI. He wasn't being dramatic. He was being honest.

Think this is hyperbole? It’s not.

Last week, I spoke with an advertising partner who realized AI means she'll "never have to show up to a meeting unprepared, ever again." While her competitors are still paying thousands for Gartner subscriptions and spending hours in analyst interviews, she's sparring with AI to update her on industry developments, train her on vocabulary, and drill her until she's fluent in any topic that might emerge.

That's not AI doing the work. That's AI augmenting her capabilities. Or as I like to think of it: that's "Augmented-I" at work.

As 30-year Harvard faculty and former Dean Stephen Kosslyn puts it, "Fundamentally, AI is a cognitive amplifier. It's a mistake to think of AI as a copilot, or a tool."

This changes everything about how we should answer that opening question. When someone asks, "Did you use AI for this?" there's only one acceptable answer:

"Of course I did! Can you imagine me NOT using every means available to do the best possible work?"

Challamel suggests the very title "Chief AI Officer" will soon sound as dated as 2012’s "Chief Mobile Officers" do today. The real title should be "Chief Augmentation Officer." Their directive? "How high can I raise you?"

Here's the truth: You don't need to fear AI taking your job. You need to fear an augmented human taking your job.

I think about attitudes towards AI on what I call the “F-Scale:” on one end is Fear, on the other is Fun. But you can't get to Fun without going through Familiar and Fluent first. The question is: how long will you wait to start that journey? Where are you on your journey to fun?

Because here are your options: A) Spend 45 minutes doing it yourself B) Let "Augmented-I" do it in one minute.

Those aren't hypothetical numbers. Those are from my life, last week. That's the real choice you're making every time you start a task without asking, "How can Augmented-I do this better?"

So who wrote this post?

When I say "AI did," what I hope you read is "Augmented-I did. Amplified-I did." Because that’s the truth.

The only fear you should be feeling right now is FOMO.

Related: Use AI to Use AI: The Meta-Skill Nobody’s Talking About
Related: Beyond the Prompt: Brice Challamel
Related: Stop Hiding Your AI Use
Related: Beyond the Prompt: Stephen Kosslyn

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