Q&A with 9 AI Power Users
Part 1 of 2
It feels like we’ve reached the first early stage of maturity in the AI world. The power users and early adopters have invested enough time and effort to understand today’s tools, and they’re learning how to deal with the limitations they find.
One idea that stood out to me again and again is this: AI doesn’t replace our humanity — it amplifies it.
To work well with these tools, we’re forced to become clearer about what we want, how we think, and what matters to us. The better we know our perspective, the more powerful the result. It is a win-win situation.
Let me introduce you to Automato’s new friends.
- , writes the newsletters Elite Leaders and The Investor’s Newsletter. Dennis has an amazing story, and he invites you to read this specific post.
- , is a dynamic business engineer and a data analyst. She writes Lights on by Farida and invites you to read this mind-bending post.
- , is a lifelong learner who is transforming his passion into his publication, Super Charged Learning HQ. He invites you to read how to learn using AI.
- helps startups grow through marketing. He writes Marketing in Progress and invites you to read how to increase your revenue.
- is the empowering and kind force behind Build to Launch; she is an AI builder on a mission to support others to successfully build and launch their AI products. She recommends that you to start here.
- is a founder of venture capital companies and writes The Founders’ Corner. Here you have a popular post on Vibe Coding.
- is an enterprise coach and helps product managers be more strategic and effective. He writes Product Strategy Decoded. Mike recommends that you read this post.
- explores the relationship between AI and Leadership, his publication is named Leadership in Change, and invites you to read his Secondbrain Blueprint.
- is exploring the power of artificial intelligence for self-reflection. He writes AI for Humanity and invites you to check out this fantastic post on how to start learning about yourself with AI.
Just getting to know them is already worth a full Automato post.
They’re listed in the order in which they submitted their answers to the questions below.
Which AI tools do you use most often for your creative work?
I was genuinely surprised by the answers to this question. I expected ChatGPT to dominate, but it turns out Claude has already earned a solid place among power users.
The people who responded come from very different backgrounds and work with very different audiences, but they all share one thing: they use Substack to connect with others.
Another surprise: while tools like Grammarly, Kimi, and Freepik did appear, I expected to see more workflow automation tools — things like n8n, Zapier, Make, and similar. Apparently, automation still isn’t as common as I assumed among creators.
How has your work changed since LLMs became popular?
It looks like for almost everyone, AI means an improvement in productivity and creativity. That was to be expected.
And I’m happily surprised to see two practical cases when AI plays a role in supporting or improving quality of life:
“I’m dyslexic so it’s been fantastic as both ideation (which I’m very strong at), but particularly the tangible part of creation and drafting in the Creator realm as been 10xd.” -
’s response is also very interesting because it breaks the false belief that coding with AI is as simple as asking for an app:“My entire life changed. As someone who is in tech for 30 years, I discovered I was interested in humans and not in computers.
Started writing my newsletter and studying psychology on my own. I can say that I also managed to heal myself using AI after being married 10 years to a narcissist and was diagnosed with complex PTSD.” -
“I went from typing code line by line to having conversations with AI about what I want to build. Now I manage AI like a teammate, setting guardrails, reviewing outputs, catching what it misses, instead of writing every line myself.”
Something I find curious is that the AI tools are widely seen as companions. It is also obvious that in terms of productivity, the rate of improvement goes through the roof.
The following graphic is my interpretation of the original responses:
What is your best speculation of long-term shifts we will see due to AI?
As a social entrepreneur, I’ve always seen technology as something that should lift people, not push them aside. That’s why I was glad to see that three participants shared opinions that AI might support human empowerment.
“I’d like to see people return to using their own brains more in collaboration with LLMs. But then use agents more to fast-track mundane actions.” -
“…On the other side, something extraordinary could unfold. If we learn to use AI not as replacement but as a thinking partner… it can become a genuine cognitive extension. Used this way, AI can help us see our own minds more clearly, surface contradictions, and restore the kind of coherence we’ve lost in the noise... The outcome depends less on the models themselves and more on the courage of the people who choose to stay awake inside them.” -
Based on past experiences, we can easily see how our current biases could be wrong:
“Unimaginable shifts we cannot comprehend. Like the internet shift - what we believed to be true was wrong and what we believed to be untrue became true. We thought the browser was critical… but search was the killer app. Know one would have bet on an online book store being one of the biggest companies in the world…” -
It looks like the imagination of the entrepreneurial kind is also in full preparation for enjoying independence and the power of doing so many things with more ease than today:
“From 6 to 12 months I believe I’ll be able to be my own creative & development team. And maybe, in a way, be able to fulfill that desire that sounded like a joke for years of “I’ll need another me to get everything I want done.”” -
Is AGI getting close?
If our nine new friends are right, AGI is more likely closer rather than later. And that means we must seriously imagine how that change will impact our lives.
“AI reflects the intent behind its use; without clear leadership and purpose, it is just noise. Your mission must be the compass.” -
What do you think about AGI's arrival?
We still have more questions to share with you, but Substack Editor is telling me that this post is near the length limit! So stay tuned for the next delivery! It drops on Monday.
So that is it for now. I hope you find this information useful!
Love,
Jose
P.S. For the next part of this series, I will prepare the source answers in a file so you can explore them freely.
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Thank you for including me in this list of rockstars brother. Honored and humbled
🧡🙏🏼🔥
Thank you Jose Antonio Morales for having me in your amazing Substack and with such great writers, was my honor 🙏🙏