Human Agency in the Age of AI: Stop Using AI, Start Working With It
We’ve spent the last two years obsessing over AI’s power, speed, and scalability. But the real breakthrough isn’t about AI. It’s about us. And how we choose to work with it.
In one of the most refreshing takes I’ve come across, Stanford University adjunct professor Jeremy Utley challenges the entire framing of how we think about AI. Not as a tool to be used, but as a teammate to be coached, questioned, and collaborated with.
He makes a simple yet powerful point: “Don’t use AI. Work with it.”
And that one mindset shift unlocks everything.
Big thanks to Michael Andrews for sharing the video — it definitely shifted my perspective and sparked this week’s article.
From Bathtub Speeches to Everyday Superpowers
Utley opens with a scene from The Darkest Hour, where Winston Churchill dictates a speech from the bathtub while his assistant takes notes in the other room.
It’s absurd. It’s hilarious. It’s enviable.
But now? Anyone with a smartphone and a large language model can have that same capability.
What only the most powerful had access to 50 years ago is now available to everyone with a browser tab. We’re living in a moment where the poorest villager in Palo Alto has access to more cognitive leverage than Churchill ever did.
And yet, most of us are still treating this tech like a fancy calculator.
Ask Better Questions, Get Better Collaborations
Most people still approach AI like this:
I ask the question. AI gives the answer.
But what if that’s backwards?
Utley suggests flipping the script entirely: Ask AI how to ask better questions. Let it interview you. Let it dig. Let it challenge you.
He proposes a prompt:
“You are an AI expert. I would love your help in figuring out where I can best leverage AI in my life. Would you please ask me questions, one at a time, until you have enough context about my responsibilities and goals to give me two obvious and two non-obvious recommendations?”
That’s not using AI. That’s partnering with it.
And it turns out, that shift in posture leads to outsized results.
AI in the Hands of Rangers and Seventh Graders
In one story, a National Park Service ranger used basic AI collaboration skills to cut two days of paperwork into 45 minutes. His AI-powered tool is now saving 7,000 days of labour annually across 400+ parks.
In another, a seventh grader defined creativity better than most adults:
“Creativity is doing more than the first thing you think of.”
That’s exactly what generative AI enables—if you push beyond “good enough.”
Teammate vs. Tool
Utley’s research uncovered a key difference between underperformers and outperformers using AI: it wasn’t technical skill.
It was attitude.
Underperformers treated AI like a tool: one prompt in, one output out.
Outperformers treated AI like a teammate. They gave it feedback. Asked follow-up questions. Challenged assumptions. Role-played conversations. Explored its logic.
They didn’t just input. They interacted.
That one shift created better ideas, better results, and more surprising outcomes.
Inspiration Is a Discipline
AI is only as creative as the inspiration you bring to it.
That’s the big unlock. Your experiences, your taste, your questions—those are the variables that determine the quality of your collaboration.
So if everyone has the same AI, what makes your results different?
You do.
The Real Opportunity: Rediscovering Human Agency
In a world of infinite prompts, creativity becomes what you decide to explore.
AI isn’t replacing human agency. It’s forcing us to reclaim it.
The best prompt engineers are becoming the best question askers. The best strategists are becoming better collaborators. The most creative people are about to be unleashed.
The only wrong answer to “How do you use AI?” might just be: “I use it.”
Because the real magic begins when you stop using AI. And start working with it.