Technology Advances
Almost certainly you have, whether you realised it or not. In other words, the question is: Have you ever seen a train?
When new technologies arrive, we reach for the past to explain the future. We borrow familiar language to make sense of unfamiliar capabilities. But over time, something subtle happens – the strange becomes ordinary and our language evolves.
First there were horses and carriages. Then horseless carriages. Until we shortened the phrase to just three letters and travelled by car. Heading out to see the moving pictures. Which we then abbreviated into the movies.
What once needed explaining now simply is.
As the world evolves, it helps to see new technologies for what they actually are – new technologies, not mythical beasts or superintelligent beings. The sooner you’re able to see and understand tech for what it is – rather than what it’s compared to – the greater the progress you’ll make.
Making the shift matters.
Right now, we’re still treating AI like an analogy – something to be compared and humanised. Digital teammates. Assistants. Agents.
While it can initially help to anthropomorphise and think of AI as a brilliant intern who’s occasionally hungover and makes mistakes, persisting with that perspective will hold you back from making the most of the technology. Just as trying to feed your car hay won’t refuel it, no matter what the cost savings might be.
Analogies and comparisons help anchor our thinking. Grounding us by translating new concepts into familiar terms. However, remember that anchors are designed to hold us in place – so moving forward into the future requires deliberately letting go of the reassuring past.
Managing an agentic workflow is not like working with AI teammates. It’s a system. Just as driving a car is no longer like riding in a carriage without horses.
Some things change.
Some things stay the same.
The advantage comes from knowing which is which – and adjusting ahead of others.
Always moving.
Forward.