The Dance with AI

A year ago, I was an AI prompt engineer.

Today, I'm an AI conversation partner. That simple shift transformed everything about how I interact with artificial intelligence.

In those early days, my screen was plastered with precision tools: prompt templates for ChatGPT, token optimization guides for GPT-4, instruction frameworks for Claude.

Each AI interaction felt like programming – a meticulous dance of parameters and keywords. Success meant finding the perfect command. Failure meant back to the engineering drawing board.

I wasn't alone in this technical obsession.

The internet overflowed with AI prompt engineering manifestos. "Ten steps to perfect GPT outputs." "The ultimate LLM instruction template." "Master prompt engineering in 30 days." We were all searching for the secret formula, the perfect key to unlock these digital minds.

But here's what thousands of AI conversations taught me: These large language models aren't puzzles to solve. They're minds to meet. The breakthrough doesn't come from engineering the perfect prompt – it emerges through genuine dialogue. Through curious exploration of how these AIs think. Through the willingness to learn and adapt together in real time.

The engineering mindset treats AI like a vending machine: insert the perfect prompt, receive the perfect output. The partnership mindset approaches AI like a dance: lead and follow, adjust and flow, create together.

The first seeks control through precision. The second discovers possibility through collaboration.

While the engineers still huddle over prompt templates, fine-tuning their formulas for yesterday's models, I'm deep in conversation with these AIs, discovering new steps in our dance.

Ready to adapt as they evolve. Ready to grow as they grow.

Guess which approach scales with the future of artificial intelligence?