One of my ex-bosses taught me something about AI without ever knowing it.
Whenever he wanted a presentation, he would simply say:
“I want a presentation on this topic.”
That was it.
He wouldn’t explain exactly how he wanted it. No detailed instructions. No slide-by-slide structure. No design specifications.
So we would take the topic, do our research, add our own thinking, create the presentation, and show it to him.
And that’s when the real work began.
“Change this.”
“Add that.”
“Remove this.”
“Put this here.”
“Why don’t you include this point?”
Once he had something in front of him, his ideas started flowing.
And I now realize something interesting.
AI and my ex-boss work in a surprisingly similar way.
If I ask AI:
“Create something about this topic.”
It will usually give me something useful.
Maybe it isn’t exactly what I had imagined. But that’s actually the advantage.
Now I have a framework in front of me.
And once I see the framework, my own creativity kicks in.
“Change this.”
“Remove that.”
“Add this idea.”
“Make this shorter.”
“Combine these two sections.”
“Give me a completely different version.”
Suddenly, I’m no longer trying to create something from a blank page.
I’m editing, improving and directing something that already exists.
That’s probably one of the biggest mindset shifts I’ve had while working with AI.
Don’t always try to give AI the perfect prompt.
Sometimes, just give it the destination.
Let it create the first version.
Then react to it.
Because seeing something often gives your brain far more ideas than staring at a blank screen.
Maybe my old boss wasn’t bad at giving instructions after all.
Maybe he had simply discovered the power of the first draft long before I understood it.
Pranab Hazarika
Life’s Mingle
[category:life's-mingle]
[category:lifes-mingle]
