LLMs are your mind’s first gear

Shortcuts get a bad rep, because they feel like cheating. But there’s another way of looking at it. Shortcuts as a shorthand for 'things that get you ahead'. They don't replace the work, but they do accelerate it. If your mind is an engine, the right shortcuts act as the first gear.

This is how i think about LLMs these days. They don’t replace what i think, or how i think. But they help me kickstart the thinking process. Since 2022, i have used LLMs to do things like:

• Describe hyper-specific audience profiles

• Stress test thought starters around a strategic proposition

• Rationalise why a bunch of ideas may or may not work

• Analyse long-form content to generate cultural themes

• Get a reasonably good overview of a market’s dynamics

• Turn a bunch of notes into a coherent enough story

Could i have done all of these things myself? Of course. Could i have done them in a matter of minutes, between meetings? No way in hell. We keep talking about LLMs as if they’re trying to de-throne the hero that is our mind. But they’re not trying to be Batman. They’re Alfred.

They assist us. They do jobs for us. Sometimes they can save us. But they are not the title protagonist. They’re there to generate options, while we’re there to challenge and sharpen them. By doing it this way, you get to benefit from these tools without neglecting critical thinking.

It’s superficial to think LLMs can either do everything, or nothing.