AI isn't my replacement. It's more.

Most developers and creators think the biggest benefit of using AI is that it does the work for you. That's what I thought too, but I was completely wrong about what makes AI such a game changer. It's an upgrade that fundamentally changes how I learn and create.

I want to share how I broke through my ceiling as a product designer and developer in ways I never expected. I want you to see AI not as a replacement for your skills, but as a massive upgrade that can make you better at your craft and lead to greater impact on your business, career, and creative work.

You can watch this on YouTube, or read on...

The trap

Here's the trap I almost fell into in the early days of AI. Most people see AI as potentially replacing themselves, their job, and their skills.

For me, as a product builder and business owner, I was initially excited about the idea of delegating work to AI. But this line of thinking leads to disappointment because when you actually try to use AI to write code or content, it's simply not good enough on its own.

AI can't do as good of a job as you can as a creator, builder, or professional with real human experience. This realization often leaves us back where we were in the pre-AI days – doing everything ourselves without any of the benefits of this AI revolution.

That was the trap I fell into early on, which is why I was slow to adopt AI in my development workflow. Now I'm incorporating it into everything I do, from coding to writing to video production, using tools like Cursor and Claude.

The breakthrough

My unexpected breakthrough came when I realized why my skills had been stagnating. Before AI, I found that my abilities as a developer and designer had plateaued.

I stuck to building things I already knew how to build because I'd done them before. I stayed in my comfort zone without pushing beyond my limits.

Why? Because as a product developer and entrepreneur trying to bring new products to market, shipping speed is everything to me. This desire to move fast pushed me to stay within my comfort zone, building the same types of features and products repeatedly because I could ship them quickly.

Venturing into unknown territory always meant a slower process due to the learning curve. I needed extra time to learn, read documentation, watch tutorials, and experiment – all of which slowed down my shipping speed.

This led me to shy away from cutting-edge ideas. I stayed on my plateau at my comfortable, fast shipping speed, limited to what I already knew how to build.

Fast forward to today, where AI is fully embedded in my design and development workflow. Now I have the freedom to be more ambitious about what I build, even when venturing into entirely new territory.

Thanks to AI, I can compress the time and effort needed to learn new approaches. What used to require hours, days, or weeks of reading documentation and watching tutorials can now be accelerated by prompting an AI to lead the way.

AI shows me examples and starts building things I've never built before. I can then study what it produces, see the connections it made, and learn as I read through the code – all within the context of my actual project.

Of course, the first pass from AI is never perfect. But that's where the true value emerges: in the cycle of reviewing what the AI produced, then crafting, shaping, and correcting it with my human touch.

I can take that first 70-80% that AI provides and use my experience, skills, and taste as a human creator to shape it into a final product that's 100% ready to ship. It's polished, has my stamp on it, and I'm off to the races.

What changed?

What has actually changed for me and my business since embracing AI in my creative workflow?

I'm now able to venture into newer, more cutting-edge territory that I hadn't explored before. This uncovers product ideas and breakthroughs I wouldn't have reached otherwise, creating real impact on my products and business success.

On a personal level, I've completely broken out of the plateau I was stuck in for years. My skills as a developer and designer are no longer stagnating. Every day I feel like I'm leveling up because AI guides me into uncharted territory.

I've gained new experience, started to see patterns, and can connect dots that weren't there before. I'm growing as a creator and professional, which rebuilds my confidence in my ability to create, ship products, and build a business.

How to make this leap

So how can you make this same leap? Start by getting over the misconception that AI is here to just do all the work for you. It's not.

Instead, see AI as a creative collaborator and partner that helps you level up your craft. The new creative cycle I use is: prompt, learn, improve, ship, repeat.

Prompt AI to lead the way into new territory. Then, instead of blindly trusting what it produces, review it carefully. That's where the improvement stage comes in – where your craft and experience come into play.

Finally, you arrive at a shippable product that makes an impact. This approach helps you continue growing instead of staying on a plateau of familiar skills.