Was Neo right to hesitate before the jump? At first glance, this question seems to be about the iconic scene from "The Matrix," but it's really a question about ourselves. About that moment when we stand before a great, unknown technology like AI and feel that the chasm is too wide, and our self-belief is too small. This is exactly what I recently discussed with Renata W. Lewicka, an IT law strategist and the host of the "Modern IT Contracts" podcast. When Renata invited me to talk, she used this brilliant metaphor herself. I understood then that the key isn't technical knowledge, but breaking through an internal barrier – just as Neo had to. In this article, I want to show you that this leap is possible for everyone and share the insights that will help you make it.
You can listen to our entire conversation here:
I felt pride and pressure. Behind the scenes of the podcast invitation.
The theme "AI is not magic" is incredibly close to my heart. It's the foundation upon which I built this blog. I vividly remember conversations with my friends at the very beginning of my journey with artificial intelligence. I would show them the first versions of ChatGPT, and they would ask it questions as if it were an oracle, only to conclude with disappointment: 'it's spouting nonsense, it's not that smart at all.' And inside, I felt a growing frustration because I saw a potential they couldn't grasp.
Back then, I couldn't properly explain to them that the problem wasn't the tool, but the way they were asking questions. I felt like I was living in a bubble – I already understood something, while they stood on the outside, discouraged. It was this frustration and the desire to share my own path to understanding AI, which I described in my article on how I became a prompt master in one day, that pushed me to start "AI for Everyone." And Renata's invitation was a signal to me that this mission makes sense.
From our conversation, I drew three key conclusions that I hope will help you believe in your own abilities as well.
Conclusion #1: Your birth date is not a barrier. It's your hidden strength.
One of the strongest myths is that AI is a technology reserved for the young, the digital natives. In the podcast, Renata and I debunked this myth with full force. My experience from conducting workshops shows something completely opposite.
Why does the 50+ generation have a natural talent for conversing with AI?
It turns out that people who wrote essays and dictations in school, rather than clicking on ready-made answers, have a certain superpower. Their natural ability for advanced language use, rich vocabulary, and the skill to formulate thoughts precisely are the traits of an ideal conversationalist for artificial intelligence. Added to this is a wealth of life experience, which allows them to give their queries (prompts) a deeper, more valuable context. It turns out that what was once a standard of education is now becoming a key competence of the future.
Conclusion #2: AI is not an oracle, but a brilliant calculator. You have to learn to talk to it.
The second great myth that leads to frustration is treating AI like an all-knowing encyclopedia. When we ask a question and get an untrue answer (a so-called hallucination), it's easy to get discouraged. But the key is to understand how it works "under the hood."
What are the famous "hallucinations" and why shouldn't you be afraid of them?
In our conversation, I emphasized that behind AI lies pure mathematics and probability. The tool doesn't "think" logically. It calculates which word is statistically most likely to come next in response to your question. This awareness changes everything. You begin to understand that you need to be precise and give the AI the right context to guide it to the correct answer.
Try a simple experiment:
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Ask ChatGPT:
Act as a lawyer and write a letter to the housing cooperative about a broken lightbulb in the stairwell. -
Then, change the command:
Act as a desperate resident and write the same letter.
You will see how changing the context (the role) completely alters the style and content of the response. You are the director, and the AI is an incredibly talented actor. If you want to learn the exact ingredients I use to build my directorial cues, check out my guide to the anatomy of a master prompt. There, I break down how to create commands that yield spectacular results.
Conclusion #3: AI won't take your job. A person who uses AI will.
And now for the biggest fear: will AI take our jobs? Of course, like any technological revolution, this one will also change the market. There used to be typists – workers who transcribed handwritten documents on a typewriter – and today, each of us creates them on a computer. Some jobs disappeared, but others emerged.
Meet the "Bot Shepherd" and other jobs of the future.
Prompt engineers, specialists in "conversing" with AI, are already in demand today. In the podcast, I even mentioned a new, fascinating role: the "bot shepherd" – a person who manages and supervises the work of automated AI agents. Instead of being afraid of being replaced, we need to think about how we can use these tools to work smarter and more efficiently. The real competitive advantage lies not in access to technology itself, but in the ability to use it.
Know that you can. That's all you need.
Returning to Morpheus and his powerful words: "Don't think you are. Know you are." Our conversation with Renata convinced me that this sentence is the essence of the approach to learning AI. It's not about "thinking" that maybe you'll learn someday. It's about "knowing" that you already have everything you need to start. You have curiosity, you have experience, and you have access to free tools.
The most important piece of advice I can give you is ridiculously simple: experiment. Open a free tool like ChatGPT, Copilot, or Gemini and just start talking. Ask questions, ask for help with daily tasks, have fun. It's like riding a bike – it will be clumsy at first, you might even fall. But with each subsequent "prompt," you will gain skill and confidence.
Don't stand idly on the platform, watching the train depart. Get on it. It's the only way to go from being a passenger to being the driver of your own future.
PS. I want to be fully transparent with you – this article is living proof of what I'm writing about. From brainstorming the title, through structuring the content, to the final touches, and even translating it from Polish to English, my discussion partner was the Gemini language model. This shows that AI doesn't have to replace us; it can fantastically enhance our own creativity.
