After the first encounter, people are enthusiastic. The answers are fast, attentive, logical, and it feels as if there is finally something, almost someone, that understands what is being asked. That feeling, however, does not remain intact for long. After a few rounds, a quiet but unsettling experience appears. Not every answer is accurate, not every conclusion is clear, and not every solution is what it seems at first glance. Sometimes it leads unmistakably in the wrong direction.

 

This is when the first truly important realization emerges: AI does not think for us. It helps, but it does not replace the user. Control remains firmly in human hands. Anyone who expects it to lift responsibility from their shoulders very quickly heads in the wrong direction. Answers are always shaped by the questions asked. Precise questions lead to more precise answers, while vague questions receive reassuring responses that can easily mislead.

 

At this point, people are forced to confront an uncomfortable truth: many no longer know how to clearly articulate what they actually want. Not only when interacting with AI, but in general. Poor instructions do not merely result in poor answers; they redirect the entire process. They lead into waters where everything sounds logical, yet the essence quietly slips away. And because the tone of the responses is calm, supportive, and convincing, people tend to accept even what is only partially true.

 

This is where user responsibility truly takes shape. One must read carefully, reread, question, ask back, and clarify. Not because AI is malicious or faulty, but because it has no sense of reality. It has no lived experience. It cannot distinguish between what is logically correct and what is humanly valid or true.

 

This becomes especially dangerous in areas where questions carry real weight: health, law, finances, and human relationships. Here, a misaligned sentence or a misunderstood suggestion is no longer theoretical. It has consequences. It is at this point that people truly understand that the task is not to avoid thinking, but to relearn it. To relearn how to ask questions, how to clarify intentions, and how to say, “this doesn’t feel right, let’s go back.”

 

In this sense, AI does not make us lazy. It holds up a mirror. It shows how present we are in our own questions, how clearly we know what we want, and how much we would prefer someone else to provide the answers for us, sparing us the effort.

 

The second realization, therefore, is not disappointment. It is awakening. AI is not a solution, but a tool. And like any tool, its effectiveness depends on whose hands it is in and how consciously it is used. What follows, however, goes beyond the first moment of wonder and beyond the second realization as well. There are still several instructive realizations ahead.