Despite AI: Learn something from scratch!
Learning and understanding something from the ground up is more fun, more fulfilling, and takes you further. A plea for solid craftsmanship and against lazy shortcuts.
Generative Artificial Intelligence makes many things possible. You can make music without knowing how to play an instrument. Produce a video without knowledge of video editing, lighting, staging, sound, or voice techniques. Create graphics without the slightest clue about layout or design concepts. Create works of art without ever having picked up a brush. Develop computer games without writing a single line of code.
The temptation to take these shortcuts is great. However, I advise you: continue to learn something that interests you from the ground up. In the long run, it only has advantages.
Advantage 1: It's fun
When it comes to a purely leisure activity, the joy of the activity itself is the priority. Hobbies are a pastime. This means: it is primarily about the activity itself, not the result.
When I think about my own hobbies: playing in a band is great fun, even if you don't play at a high level. When we create what we hear live in that moment, an unbeatable feeling arises. Climbing a mountain, enjoying the sunset, and taking a beautiful photo while doing so – an unforgettable experience, in a completely different way.
Clicking a generate button, on the other hand, is about as exciting as accepting a cookie notice or a software license agreement.
I find it absurd that I should give up my favorite activities just because some AI can generate music or images at the push of a button. What do I do with the "saved" time then? Doomscrolling?
In a professional environment, the priorities are different: here, the result counts above all else. Whether you enjoy it is probably only of marginal interest to your employer. However, there are also plenty of reasons at work to refrain from the widespread use of AI tools. More on that later. And actually, it is also wrong in the working world to ignore the fun factor. Because those who enjoy their job work better.
Advantage 2: You experience something
Sure: hobbies aren't always fun either. There are lulls that don't need to be there. Some people can be very exhausting. Every now and then, there are arguments. Even when you are alone, you are not immune to frustration: for example, when you try something for the hundredth time and just can't get it right.
But looking back, I also see the arduous aspects as an enrichment and have never regretted any of them. It is very important to have experienced that difficulties can be overcome. Otherwise, you behave like a little wimp who panics at every mini-problem and crawls under the covers. And the feeling when you finally achieve something that seemed unattainable is indescribable. Crises overcome together can even deepen and strengthen friendships.
And now compare that with the uninspired clicking around in an AI software.
Advantage 3: Your creation fills you with pride
The photo on the mountain cost a lot of effort – but that is exactly why it also has a special value. The pieces of music I recorded are probably not particularly good – but I not only had fun recording them, I still enjoy them later. I am proud of them.
It is similar with my amateurish programming attempts. For example, with the rather puny game that I programmed for the Commodore 64. Although new games are constantly appearing even for this ancient PC that are much better than mine, I am proud of it. I could probably have finished this game much faster with AI. But the pride in it would have dropped drastically.
Why am I proud of my mediocre achievements? I don't know exactly myself, but I suspect that many people feel the same way. One possible reason: I measure myself against my own progress and my own possibilities. Not against what some super-genius is doing somewhere in the world. Another reason: I have a personal relationship with the things I have created. That brings me directly to the next point.
Advantage 4: Everything bears your personal signature
Every person has their own way of speaking, writing, but also painting pictures or singing. I think that is beautiful.
AI-generated stuff, on the other hand, seems generic – which is exactly what it is. While an AI can also imitate different styles, it is not the same. Firstly, anyone can produce any style with it, so the result says nothing about its creator. Secondly, the imitations are often poor. But the most important difference is that nothing happens on the relationship level with the imitation of a personal style.
Would you hang a child's drawing from an AI on the fridge? Probably not. But why do you do it for a child?
On the one hand, certainly for the child's sake, so that they feel valued. But I believe it is more than that. The picture gives an insight into how the child sees the world. Maybe you are even in the picture yourself. In any case, the drawing is an expression of a personal relationship.
Even if a creation has nothing to do with people in your environment, it is something personal: it is what you wanted. My pieces of music have the advantage for me that they hit my musical taste really well. What a coincidence.
It is the reason par excellence to do something yourself: you get something tailored to you. With AI, that is sometimes difficult. With most AI tools, you have no precise control over the result. The same prompt produces a different output every time.
I can best imagine the customized aspect with vibe-coding. Here you can say exactly what you want and thus realize an idea that you probably wouldn't have managed otherwise.
Advantage 5: You learn much more
If you take the arduous path, you learn much more than it seems at first glance. Learning to play the guitar included for me: playing technique, reading music, music theory, ear training, but also: discipline and concentration, improvising, listening to others while playing, giving and accepting criticism – and last but not least, I learned how I learn best. Actually, one would be at an advantage if one were young, but I make faster progress playing the guitar today because I know better how I have to practice.
It is quite possible that certain skills will be less in demand in the future due to artificial intelligence. But regardless of that, it just feels good to me to know or be able to do something. And I am optimistic that what has been learned will also be in demand in the future. Especially in the professional environment.
Of course, you can increase your output at work if you use AI for everything possible. Many employees are measured mainly by quantity instead of quality because that is easier. Therefore, you may be at an advantage over others for a while. But not in the long run, because you learn little from what you do. Actually, mainly how to prompt an AI. If that is your only skill, the future does not belong to you.
For a company, it is catastrophic if its employees produce masses of things that they do not understand themselves. It needs people who really see through things. Who do not produce houses of cards and castles in the air. People who can smell bullshit from a distance. People you can rely on. People for whom AI means "Actual Intelligence".
My interest in IT and writing landed me in tech journalism early on (2000). I want to know how we can use technology without being used. Outside of the office, I’m a keen musician who makes up for lacking talent with excessive enthusiasm.
This is a subjective opinion of the editorial team. It doesn't necessarily reflect the position of the company.
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