The Tool We Do Not Understand, Yet Still Use

In recent years, a new presence has entered our lives.
It did not ask whether we were ready. It did not knock, it did not introduce itself. It simply arrived. At first, it only helped: it gave faster answers, organized information, made suggestions. Today, it does much more than that. It has become part of our decisions, our work, our thinking. And yet, most of us still do not really know what it is.

Artificial intelligence -AI, for short- is not a thinking being. It does not know what it is talking about. It does not understand the words it uses. It does not feel, it does not want, it has no intentions. What we perceive as “intelligence” is, in fact, pattern recognition. It has learned, from an enormous amount of human text, data, and behavior, what usually follows what in certain situations. It does not think-it infers.

The chat systems many people now use daily are neither search engines nor advisers. They do not communicate truths; they generate responses. Not because they know what is right, but because, statistically, something appears most likely. This distinction may seem subtle, yet it is fundamental. And it is precisely here that the misunderstanding begins-one that can later lead to serious consequences.

AI was not created to replace humans. It was created to speed things up, to simplify, to make processes more efficient. The sheer volume of information has long exceeded what a single person can oversee. AI responds to this-not with wisdom, but with speed. Not with insight, but with optimization.

And that is why it is so fast. It does not get tired. It does not hesitate. It does not stop to ask whether something should be done. It simply executes. This is what makes it both fascinating and unsettling. Compared to human pace, it offers a brutal advantage-to those who use it. And a serious disadvantage to those who do not.

Today, it is present in education, healthcare, the economy, creative work, and decision preparation. There are fewer and fewer areas where it can be avoided. Not because it is mandatory, but because it is efficient. And because it is convenient. Humans are inclined to accept whatever lifts weight from their shoulders.

Development is not moving toward AI “becoming conscious.” That is more a cinematic fear than a real issue. The real change is that AI is becoming increasingly embedded in our everyday decisions. We are less and less able to see where the tool ends and where our own thinking begins.

And this is the point where the discussion is no longer about technology. It is about the human being. About what we do with a tool that is, in itself, neither good nor bad. A tool that can help and harm using the same logic. The difference does not lie within the technology. It lies within us, as users.

This is where the series continues. Not from the perspective of experts or developers, but from that of ordinary people. Looking at what AI can truly be used for-and what it should not be used for. Where it genuinely helps. And where it becomes dangerous. Not because it is “bad,” but because the human being is what they are.