Finding Your Place in the New AI World (and Staying Sane While You Do It)

Some days I feel like I am killing it in the AI World. I’ll talk to a marketing team that’s just starting to really test ChatGPT and push its limits—experimenting with prompts, figuring out how to get AI to sound less robotic, etc. In those moments, I feel like I’ve got this figured out. I'm ahead of the game!

Then, I’ll hop on a call with someone who’s building multi-branch, complex workflows across four AI platforms, wiring up real-time data feeds, stacking prompts on top of prompts, and coding custom scripts to automate half their business. And suddenly, I feel light-years behind.

That gap—the one between “I’m crushing this” and “I know nothing”—is enormous right now. And it can be incredibly disconcerting. Every week, there’s a new tool, a new framework, a new approach to how we work, think, and create. One minute you’re the teacher, the next you’re the student.

It’s disorienting. And it brings as much insecurity as it does excitement.

Because the truth is, no one really knows where they stand in this new AI world. There’s no map, no hierarchy, no clearly defined ladder to climb. You might be an early adopter in one area and completely lost in another. You might feel like you’re late to the party—until you realize most people haven’t even opened the invitation.

I'm finding it difficult to navigate through the ups and downs without feeling completely lost. I'm guessing I'm not the only one feeling this way. So I thought I'd jot down some of my thoughts on how to find your path and a few coping skills I've picked up along the way.

1. Notice where your conversations stagnate—and where they flourish

I hate it when conversations hit a wall. I can never tell if it was my ineptitude, the other person's disinterest, or just chance that causes things to stall out every now and then. Oftentimes, it's because I've simply hit the limit of what I know or ways I can contribute to the conversation.

While these moments are uncomfortable, they are actually chalk full of good information about your own interests and areas of improvement. If you find your mind wandering during conversations about training LLMs, it might be a sign that this is not an area worth persuing, which helps narrow down the aspects of AI you do want to pursue. If you feel completely lost in a conversation about Grok vs. Copilot, it might be time to start broadening your chatbot horizons and trying some new things.

Alternatively, when you find yourself lighting up, explaining something in detail, or connecting dots that others haven’t, that’s a signpost. Those are the areas you should explore and deepen.

Basically, your own curiosity and reactions are going to point you towards your AI lane. Pay attention to where conversations feel easy, energizing, and full of insight—and where they feel forced.

Momentum is data. Stagnation is data. The difference tells you what’s worth mastering.

2. Balance experimentation with depth

There’s no shortage of AI tools out there. The temptation is to try them all—to keep chasing the next best thing. But that can leave you with 1,000 half-developed skills instead of a few you can truly build a career on.

Experimentation matters. You should try new tools, explore new workflows, and keep an open mind. But balance it with depth. Pick a few tools or areas to master and really understand their mechanics, limitations, and strengths. When you know a system inside and out, you can do far more creative things with it than someone skimming the surface of 20 tools at once.

Depth creates confidence. Exploration keeps you flexible. You need both.

3. Fail fast and move on

Every AI experiment is a gamble. Sometimes you find magic; sometimes you waste two hours trying to automate something that simply isn't possible with your current skillset. Or, even more often, you find that many SaaS platforms simply don't deliver what they promised (if I had a nickel for every time...)

Don’t get stuck there. The faster you fail, the faster you learn what’s worth your time.

If a tool doesn’t click, let it go. If a process feels clunky, rebuild it. There are no bonus points for loyalty to the wrong setup. The AI world rewards agility, not stubbornness.

4. Learn to let go of perfection

Writers, marketers, and creators—especially those of us who are trained in the craftsmanship of it all—struggle with this the most. We want every word, every transition, every line to sparkle. That perfectionist instinct is part of what makes us good.

But in the AI era, perfection has to find its place. Some content deserves your obsessive attention—the major thought pieces, the brand-defining work. But not every blog or experiment needs to be a literary masterpiece.

Some pieces will be beautifully polished. Others will just be good—and that’s fine. The real value lies in the ideas, the originality, the perspective you bring. When your message is strong, the exact words matter less.

Let go a little bit. Let the phrasing you don't like live to see another day. Publish the less-than-perfect piece that, overall, hits the right points. I know: IT HURTS. Like, physically sometimes. But you'll find that not only are others much less selective than you, but that your stress levels are much more manageable when you can focus your creative energies on a few hard-hitting pieces rather than trying to make every published asset your opus.

5. Follow the right people for the right reasons

You’re going to meet people who make you feel like a beginner. Some will be coding their own AI tools, building workflows that look like something out of a sci-fi movie, or casually generating videos from text prompts before breakfast.

Admire them. Learn from them. Then get back to your lane.

And when you look for people to learn from, look past the noise. There are plenty of loud voices claiming expertise on LinkedIn (I might even go as far as to say that the louder a person is, the more full of shit they are) and they are AI-noying. And a quick peek behind the curtain often reveals that they are much better at talking than doing...anything.

Seek out the people being thoughtful, intentional, and active in their efforts to implement AI. Especially the ones that appear to be moving slower than the crowd. Those are the people worth following—the ones whose experiments and frameworks can actually elevate your craft rather than add to garbAIge.

The people who move too fast often skip the nuance—the subtle, human parts of marketing that make work impactful. You don’t need to outpace them; you just need to build steadily. Stay curious. Stay aware. Keep refining your craft.

6. Build your own theories

We’re surrounded by AI “frameworks,” “laws,” and “models.” Some are smart. Some are hype. Either way, you don’t have to adopt anyone else’s worldview wholesale.

Start documenting your own observations—the ideas that emerge from your work, your experiments, and your mistakes. You’ll start to notice patterns: how AI responds to structure, how tone affects accuracy, how your own intuition shapes output.

Those small theories become your intellectual fingerprint. Share them. Stress-test them with others. Or keep them private as your own internal compass. The point is to think for yourself. The people pushing this field forward aren’t just using tools—they’re forming ideas about how those tools should work. Your experience matters, and your observations could be key to productive, high-quality, ethical use of AI. Don't be afraid to carve out your own little niche.

7. Get comfortable being uncomfortable

This field doesn’t come with a guidebook. There’s no clear scoring system, training course, or way to measure how far along you are. You’ll feel like a genius one day and a total idiot the next.

That’s not failure—it’s growth.

The faster you make peace with uncertainty, the faster you’ll progress (and the easier it will be to stay the course). Build something you’re not sure will work. Publish a half-formed idea. Ask a question that feels too simple. The people shaping this space aren’t the ones who play it safe—they’re the ones who keep experimenting, failing, and trying again.

It doesn't matter how far behind you are compared to anyone else, as long as you're in motion.

Don't chase moving goal posts

One of the hardest parts about AI in marketing is that the baseline keeps shifting. It’s easy to feel like you’re always behind—because technically, you are. We all are.

But don't get caught up in the game. The point isn't to be the first to try the next big thing, to get to the shiniest object faster. That's the ego at play—and while it feels like it pays off today, it's the race you'll never win. Meanwhile, you're not building anything that matters.

The point isn’t to master everything. It’s to take the time to explore and define/refine which corners of the AI world you want to own, double down, and build unique expertise. Follow the markers on the path: your curiosity and intuition. Whatever direction you go, clarity will serve you better than speed.

The ultimate destination is a sense of grounded curiosity and consistent forward momentum. When everyone else is sprinting toward the next update, the people who are communicating and experimenting thoughtfully and humbly, and who understand why they’re doing what they’re doing, are the ones who’ll still be standing when the hype dies down.