Hi Reader,

When my kids were babies, our pediatrician had one rule she kept repeating: let them chew.

Pouches and purees are easy. But babies who only get liquid food are slower to develop the muscles that let them bite, and those same muscles matter for learning to talk. They need to work at real food to build the machinery.

The same thing is happening with AI.

What I'm noticing

We are getting very good at consuming ultra-processed information. Summaries of summaries. The takeaways without the thinking that produced them. AI hands you a clean, predigested answer, and it goes down easy.

The problem is the same as the pouch. If you only ever consume the predigested version, you never build the muscle that comes from working the raw material yourself.

The people getting the most out of AI are the ones creating with it, not just consuming it. Same tool, pointed the opposite way.

Your next move

A few ways to move from consuming to creating this week:

1. Before you ask AI to summarize something, try writing your own one-line take first. Then compare. The gap is what gives you space for thinking.
2. Use AI to make something, not just to know something. A draft, a plan, a prototype. Output you can put in front of a person.
3. Notice when you're reaching for a summary to avoid the harder work of forming your own view. That's the pouch talking.

Life beyond the screen

I notice this in myself, not just my kids. The days I only scroll and skim, I feel emptier than the days I made something, even something small and bad. Creating is more effort. It also feeds your spirit in a way consuming never does.

A question for this week: What did you make this week that AI helped with, versus what did you just consume from it?

Work with me directly. If you want a thinking partner on your product strategy, AI rollout, or building your fractional practice, here's how I work with people: https://gamma.app/docs/Chill-Labs-Coaching-Information-ifjuyb0hjgw9xtb​

Come to the Water Cooler 🚰 I host a free monthly gathering for people building fractional and independent practices - honest conversations on positioning, pricing, and pipeline, plus recaps when you can't make it. Join here: https://chillaborate.com/fractional-water-cooler​

Let's Chillaborate,

Dina

Founder, Chill Labs

PS: New to the Automate Yourself podcast? There are plenty of episodes worth digging into - start anywhere: https://chillaborate.com/podcast 💙