It’s 2025! and you can build an app in 10 minutes. Launch a SaaS in a weekend. Generate logos, copy, landing pages, even pitch decks with a few keystrokes. However, this is a problem: we confuse generating with creating. We call ourselves founders before we have validated a single idea. We spend more time writing prompts than building systems. Somewhere along the way, we stopped building with intent and started using AI like a vending machine for shortcuts. Insert vague prompt. Insert vague prompt. Expect a business. Expect a business. Hit a wall. Hit a wall. Ask again. Ask again. The Myth We Bought Into There’s a subtle lie in the way people talk about AI: That it will make everything easier, faster, more efficient. And yes  it can. But only if you already know what you’re trying to do. If you don’t, AI just gives you more. More options. More noise. More false starts. I Thought I Was Building The screen was blank. I had a big idea, a dozen tabs open, and chat GPT ready. Twenty minutes later, I wasn’t building. I was just… tab switching. This is the trap we are all falling into. We think we’re working. We think we’re building. We’re just asking. Asking questions. Asking for features. Asking AI to deliver clarity while we drown in options. Then Something Changed! I stopped asking ChatGPT to give me answers. Instead, I typed this: “I’m stuck. I have an idea, but I don’t know what problem it really solves. Can you ask me a few questions to help me figure that out?” “I’m stuck. I have an idea, but I don’t know what problem it really solves. Can you ask me a few questions to help me figure that out?” And everything shifted. Not because the AI got smarter but because I got more honest. I stopped asking it to think for me. I started asking it to think with me. That’s when it became useful. The Real Skill Isn’t Prompting  It’s Pausing The real challenge with AI isn’t figuring out the tools. It’s learning to get quiet. To step back from the rush. To resist the noise. To ask yourself the only question that actually matters: What am I really trying to build? Because once you know that  even roughly the noise fades. And AI becomes something else entirely. Not a vending machine. Not a miracle. But a partner. One that doesn’t get tired. One that reflects, sharpens, organizes, questions. One that moves fast once you show it where to go. AI Is Not the Magic. You Are. AI Is Not the Magic. You Are. AI Is Not the Magic. You Are. But when you bring intention  it becomes a force multiplier. AI doesn’t do the work for you  it does it with you. The difference is everything. Last. (and this is why i built Northtech Digital) If you’re feeling overwhelmed by AI tools, startup pressure, or the need to move fast take a breath. Get quiet. Then ask the better question. Because the answers are already there  waiting for your direction.

The is an opinion piece based on the author’s POV and does not necessarily reflect the views of HackerNoon.

This post provides insights into new product. 

Most People Using AI Aren’t Actually Building Anything

About Author

Comments

TOPICS

THIS ARTICLE WAS FEATURED IN

Related Stories

14 APIs You Should Try Making JavaScript Projects With

The Imposters of Tech

5 Predictions for the Future of AI in Estate Planning

The Noonification: Use This 7-Step McKinsey Framework to Solve Any Problem (1/10/2023)

The Noonification: A Taxonomy of Inclusiveness (1/11/2024)

The Noonification: What is the InfiniteNature-Zero AI Model? (11/19/2022)

14 APIs You Should Try Making JavaScript Projects With

The Imposters of Tech

5 Predictions for the Future of AI in Estate Planning

The Noonification: Use This 7-Step McKinsey Framework to Solve Any Problem (1/10/2023)

The Noonification: A Taxonomy of Inclusiveness (1/11/2024)

The Noonification: What is the InfiniteNature-Zero AI Model? (11/19/2022)

Light-Mode

Classic

Newspaper

Minty

Dark-Mode

Neon Noir

Minty

HN StartUps