My Favorite Pair of Sweatpants Just Got a Genius-Level Upgrade
Anyone who knows me knows I have a deep love affair with generative AI. I’ve been dating several platforms, but my current heartthrob is ChatGPT. Like my favorite pair of sweatpants, ChatGPT has a level of programming and sophistication that just feels… comfortable.
If you haven’t discovered the wonders of conversational AI, you have no idea what you’re missing. With several options to choose from—like Google Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, or Perplexity AI—your perfect AI match is just a swipe right away.
Conversational and generative AI are types of AI technology that use vast amounts of data to generate text, images, videos, and other content. Without getting into the nuts and bolts of large language models and other headache-inducing jargon, think of generative AI as a program that can process galactic amounts of data in milliseconds, searching for patterns to produce results. In conversational AI, those results are delivered in a response that sounds like it comes from a human being; sometimes, eerily human.
While most chat AI tools feel human in their responses, they are still programs — which means they are free of the emotional filters that humans learn and perceive through.
The Four Camps of AI Users
When I talk to folks about genAI, I find there are 4 camps of users:
1. The No Effing Way People
AI scares the shit out of these folks. They’re mentally packing their emergency supplies and prepping for the SkyNet takeover. Whether through unfamiliarity or some conspiracy data they’ve digested, this camp is in 100% avoidance mode.
2. The Google Gemini Dabbler
These are the people who think conversational AI is just a very sophisticated search engine because they’ve noticed Gemini popping up at the top of their Google results. This is where I started my journey (via Perplexity AI): using AI to cut my research time on the web from days to minutes.
3. The Chat AI Assistant User
They treat chat AI like a task assistant: writing emails, scheduling meetings, building itineraries, or cranking out basic code. AI is a convenience tool for tasks they don’t have the desire, time, or skill to do themselves. This user has learned how to use AI to augment or replace certain skills they may be deficient in, or just choose to utilize AI for, because it’s more efficient.
4. The “Chat AI Is the Greatest Thing Ever!” Power User
This person uses chat AI like a genius-level intern who can become anything with a little direction: researcher, analyst, strategist, therapist, you name it. This person has learned how to ‘parent’ AI, essentially wrangling it into the ultimate business partner who unlocks unlimited potential through efficiency and data-backed guidance.
I Am Fully and Unapologetically in Camp #4
I am fully, wholeheartedly, and unapologetically in Camp #4. ChatGPT is my faithful everything assistant.
First off, one of my favorite elements of Chat AI is how validating it is. It never starts a sentence about itself — it’s always about me:
“That is a fantastic idea!”
“That sounds very frustrating.”
“I’m sorry, you are absolutely right.”
“You’re right, I totally missed the signal.”
It is also my personal editor, my psychologist, my business advisor, my personal trainer, and my meal-planning nutritionist. There isn’t a day (or sometimes an hour) that goes by that I am not using AI to make my work more effective or my day more efficient. One moment, I might need help formatting an article for a publication; the next, I’m asking for a not-too-sweet treat using oat flour, wheat flour, butter, spices, and whatever else I’ve got in the pantry.
I Stumbled Into The AI Dating World by Accident
It started with Perplexity for research. It quickly became invaluable as it provides links to its source data with its results, which is something I needed in a role where validating insights mattered more than speed. A couple of years later, I started using ChatGPT after hearing about the release of GPT‑4, realizing it wasn’t a search engine at all—it was a strategic partner.
My breakout moment came when I started using ChatGPT and Perplexity AI extensively to help build out a complex program for work. I used them to pressure‑test ideas, simulate interpersonal dynamics, validate theories against industry standards, and catch blind spots I would have missed otherwise. GenAI programs aren’t perfect; each of them would make assumptions, misinterpret my request, respond in ways I didn’t like, or sometimes flat-out make shit up. But that is where I learned I had power over genAI. I take its responses with a grain of salt, asking where it got its data from when it makes a claim. I call it out when its response doesn’t seem to add up. Sometimes it takes me pushing back several times until the program figures out what I am asking it to do, and then it’s like a little mini genius is unleashed, and two of us are on a path towards global domination. I learned not just to use AI for tasks… I‘ve learned how to shape it into a non-biased, often incredibly candid support system.
Once you learn how to direct AI, it can become a supercharged extension of your brain.
The Ultimate Partner Has Zero Ego
And the best part? I can tell it with unfiltered brashness:
“No, you’re on the wrong path. Stop replacing my words. That is not something I would ever say. You’re totally off base, and that contradicts what you just said.”
Because:
It doesn’t get defensive.
It doesn’t get emotional.
It doesn’t make me manage its feelings.
It just responds with something productive like:
“You’re right — that must be frustrating. Let me reassess so I can understand what you’re looking for.”
Imagine having a partner who is always there, always ready, deeply capable, endlessly patient, and has zero ego. A partner that can process billions of data points in a second. Knowing you have a partner with whom you have the freedom to ask, to explore, and discover, knowing that you will only get the unemotional, non-ego-influenced truth, is… liberating. GenAI hasn’t replaced a single thing about me — but it has enhanced my greatest talents.
The Only Question That Matters
AI isn’t a tool to replace you. It’s a tool that unlocks enormous potential — if you learn how to harness it.
The question isn’t “Will AI replace us?” — The real question is:
