One useful way to cut through noise and hype in AI conversations is to replace the word "AI" with the words "Thinking" and "Doing".
The problem a lot of people have is thinking AI is a solution itself, when in fact it's just extra ability to think, and extra ability to do. But "thinking" and "doing" still leaves all the questions unanswered.
When you substitute the word AI with the words "thinking" and "doing", the silliness becomes obvious.
PERSON 1: Yeah, our company was in massive trouble before, but I don't think we have to worry about that anymore because we're implementing a new thinking system that's gonna help us do things.
PERSON 2: Awesome, what are you going to have it think about? And what are you going to have it do?
PERSON 1: Yeah, not really sure about that. I just know that we need a thinking strategy. Plus, it can automate all the doing as well.
PERSON 2: Totally, that sounds amazing.... But, um, like what exactly are you going to have it do?
(long silence)
(blank stare)
(slow blinking)
PERSON 1: Anyway....once we get this thinking and doing system in place, I think we're going to be in really good shape. So that's the big focus for the company right now.
Yes, we can give AI tasks to think about. It can do deep analysis for us. It can even make good decisions.
But only if we tell it exactly what to think about.
And yes, we can have AI do all sorts of things for us. An infinite number of actions. A mountain of possibilities. It can do research, it can respond to tickets, it can set up meetings. It can fully automate most of the tasks you hate doing.
But only if you tell it exactly what to do.
Most of the frustration people have with AI not being able to do what they want is actually them not being able to describe what they want.[Most Companies Aren't Anywhere Near Ready for AI, 2026]
When you say that you've commissioned a new system to Think and Do, you've said precisely nothing. Unless you provide the content of the what, they are empty words. It's like telling your boss you deserve a raise because you improved it. Cool. Improved what?
The word "AI" encourages magical thinking. As if the word is the solution by itself. An easy way to reveal the problem is to replace the magic word with normal words.
The irony here is that AI is a kind of magic. This new ability to think and do at scale is truly extraordinary.
But you still have to feed it with your own ideas. Your own plan. Your own strategy.
Much of the hype and noise around AI comes from people thinking those things come with it. They don't.