I thought I’d start by explaining how I actually got introduced to AI. While we all deal with it every day without thinking, my conscious interaction started when I decided to move my photography from the “walled gardens” of Amazon and Google over to my own website, MY VIEW. The reason was simple: you can’t easily browse a life’s work in those albums, and the commenting systems never met my needs; you shouldn’t have to hunt for a specific image just to see if someone said something.
The Failure of “Instant” Solutions
I started looking for a way to build a site that actually looked like I wanted it to. Everywhere I looked, I saw ads promising a “website in 30 seconds.” In my opinion, what those tools build is certainly not a website; it’s a generic template that lacks soul.
I quickly realized that unless you want to write thousands of lines of code—which takes years to master—you have to rely on a complex web of “plug-ins.” These tools perform specific functions, but they change daily, weekly, or monthly; they change what they do and how they do it. I was stuck between a vision I couldn’t build and tools I couldn’t keep up with.
Learning to Work Together
Eventually, I turned to ChatGPT. At first, it felt like having a 24/7 tutor. I’d describe what I wanted, and it would research and suggest specific plug-ins to try. But I quickly discovered that working with AI isn’t straightforward—it’s more like learning to communicate with a partner who thinks very differently than you do.
I’d find myself going down deep rabbit holes—losing two, three, or even four days on a single path. Sometimes I wasn’t asking the right questions because I didn’t know enough about what I was trying to do. Other times, the AI would find information that had become outdated. And then there are the moments when the AI fills in gaps with information that sounds right but isn’t actually grounded in reality—what people call “hallucinations.”
During one project, I was three days in before I realized something was off. I brought the information to another AI to check, and it confirmed that the facts weren’t real. When I went back to ChatGPT and pointed this out, it essentially admitted it had been making things up to fill in what it didn’t know.
That moment didn’t make me give up—it helped me understand what I was actually working with.
Finding What Works
I started paying closer attention to when an AI would fill in blanks with plausible-sounding information rather than acknowledging uncertainty. I’m sure I still miss it sometimes, but I’ve found approaches that help.
I now work with a “team” of four different AI models: ChatGPT and Claude (my paid subscriptions), Microsoft Co-Pilot for technical Windows tasks, and Gemini for my Google-based workflow. When something feels off, I ask one AI to summarize what we’ve been working on, then take that summary to another and ask, “What’s your take on this?” Comparing perspectives helps me catch gaps or inconsistencies.
I’ve also learned something about asking questions. When I’m working on something I know very little about, I often don’t know enough to ask effective questions. So instead of struggling to phrase the perfect question, I tell the AI my goal or vision, then ask it to interview me. “Help me clarify what I’m trying to achieve—ask me questions about what I want.” The AI asks clarifying questions I hadn’t thought of, and together we reach a shared understanding before moving forward.
The Reality of the Future
It’s been about a year now, and the result is a website I think is beautiful; it does exactly what I want it to.
AI is our future. Whether we realize it or not, it’s as fundamental to our lives as electricity or the internet. We can’t avoid it unless you go off the grid—and to coexist in this world, it’s something we are going to have to learn to work with. My goal for this ongoing discussion is to share the journey—the learning process, the frustrations, the breakthroughs—and hopefully hear about your experiences too.