When AI Left Me Speechless

I'm sure we've all had those jaw-dropping moments when first using LLMs like ChatGPT. I've had several of these experiences myself, but the most memorable was probably when ChatGPT got its search functionality. I was at work, doing research for a new project. After spending hours gathering materials, I was about to feed them to ChatGPT for summarization when I had a sudden thought: "What if I just let GPT do the entire research?"

The result was absolutely mind-blowing. In just a few minutes, it produced a perfectly organized document with far more detailed and systematic information than what I had spent hours collecting. In that moment, I felt completely overwhelmed and confused. "So what exactly is my job now?"


The Real Problem We're Missing

Lately, I keep hearing people say, "I'm worried AI will replace my job." Honestly, I was caught up in that anxiety too. But recent experiences have given me a completely different perspective.

The problem isn't that AI is taking our jobs—it's that we're still defining ourselves as "problem solvers." Up until now, we've been evaluated on how quickly and accurately we could solve given problems. That's how standardized tests worked, and that's how work functioned. But now that AI handles 99% of problem-solving, what do we really need?

The ability to create problems.

Creativity Has Been Completely Redefined

The definition of creativity used to be clear. It was about how creatively and efficiently you could solve a given problem. But now that AI solves problems faster and more accurately than humans in every field, the paradigm of creativity is completely shifting. Many people don't realize just how revolutionary this change is.

I recently saw a fascinating story on YouTube that perfectly captured the essence of this new creativity. Someone needed to take photos to sell their house online but would have had to clean up all the clutter first. Instead, they asked AI: "Can you make this messy house look clean in the photo?" The result was incredible—a perfectly tidy house photo without any actual cleaning.

The important thing here isn't that they avoided cleaning. This person didn't try to solve the existing problem of "how to clean efficiently." Instead, they broke completely out of the box and created a new problem: "Is there a way to achieve my goal without cleaning at all?"

Problem Discovery vs. Problem Creation

Many people think "problem discovery" and "problem creation" mean the same thing. But they're completely different.

Problem discovery is finding existing inconveniences or inefficiencies. Feeling frustrated that "delivery comes when I'm not home and I have to reschedule" is problem discovery. Problem creation, on the other hand, is asking fundamental questions like: "When and where would people most prefer to receive items? Could we completely rethink the concept of delivery itself?"

I personally realized this difference recently. I was always stressed about deciding what to eat for lunch every day. At first, I only thought about "how to use restaurant search apps better." But when I started asking, "Do I really need to think about lunch every single day? Is there a way to eliminate this decision entirely?" it opened up completely different approaches.

My recent post about how product managers write PRDs was about discovering and defining problems, but this concept exists somewhere before that stage. The difference between problem discovery and problem creation is both intuitive and surprisingly complex. (Even as I write about this, I'll admit there are still some ambiguous aspects.)


So What Should We Actually Do?

First, how about developing a habit of looking at everything in daily life "upside down"? Even when ordering food at a restaurant, think: "Why do I have to call someone over and wait? Why couldn't there be a way to order from the table without calling anyone?" Maybe someone who asked this question created those ordering terminals you see at restaurant tables nowadays.

Second, question things we take for granted. "Why does work have to start at 9 AM?", "Why do companies need everyone in one location?", "Why are school classes divided by age?" Don't try to find answers—just start by creating lots of questions.

Third, when looking at success stories, focus on "What problem did they redefine?" rather than "How did they do it?" Instead of looking at Uber and thinking "They made a good taxi app," ask "How did they redefine the concept of transportation?" From this perspective, you'll realize that behind every innovation is a new problem definition.

Becoming a Problem Creator Is a Survival Strategy

Honestly, within the next five years, AI will outperform humans at most problem-solving tasks. AI is already surpassing humans in coding, translation, design, and even creative fields.

Surviving the AI era isn't just about using AI tools well. It's about becoming someone who continuously creates problems for AI to solve. Google now reportedly prefers cognitive science majors over computer science majors. Why? Because they can understand human cognitive processes and discover new problems.

Ultimately, creativity itself hasn't changed—the domain where we need to be creative has shifted. From problem solvers to problem creators, from answer finders to question makers.

What we need now isn't to think "How can we beat AI?" but "What problems should we give to AI?"

The future belongs to those who ask better questions, not those who find better answers. Here's your challenge: Look around you right now and find one thing that "everyone just accepts." Then ask yourself—what if we didn't have to accept it at all?

Stop waiting for the perfect moment. The AI revolution is happening with or without you. Which side will you choose?