You Don’t Need to Be an Engineer to Use AI

I read something the other day from Nicole Leffer that hit me square between the eyes.

“Take the term 'prompt engineering' for example. It's the unnecessarily intimidating, gatekeepy term that just won't go away. It makes people think you need to be an engineer to use AI well, when all it actually means is 'clear communication.'”

Yes. That.

I’ve been using ChatGPT pretty regularly for a while now, and I keep hearing things like “agents” and “automations” and “operations,” and my brain instantly goes, Oh no, that’s for people smarter than me. But here’s the wild part: the thing that actually makes me “good” at using AI isn’t anything technical at all. It’s that I’m a clear communicator. And I’m naturally curious.

That’s it. That’s the whole secret.

Clear > Clever

I didn’t go through a course or study machine learning. I just started asking ChatGPT questions and learned how to give it better instructions over time. And if you’ve ever written an email that made someone say, “Thanks, that was helpful,” you already know how to do this too.

Clear communication isn’t a bonus skill. It is the skill.

Honestly, I think part of the problem is how we talk about this stuff. The people who are ahead of the curve — and to be clear, good for them — sometimes make it sound a lot more complicated than it needs to be. Whether they mean to or not, they use language that feels like you’re walking into a classroom mid-semester. You feel behind before you’ve even started.

Let’s Make It Normal

One of my favorite AI educators right now is CatGPT, who describes herself like this:

“🌱 Non-pretentious, non-patronizing AI education.
☁️ I talk about tech like a normal human being.”

And she really does. That’s what makes her so easy to learn from — she doesn’t assume you already know the lingo, and she doesn’t make you feel like you should. Same with Nicole. These are the kinds of voices that make AI feel doable, not distant.

That’s what I want too. Because here’s the truth: I still don’t totally know what an “agent” is. Or what exactly people mean when they say they’re “building automations.” I keep hearing those words and thinking, I want that! But I don’t totally get it yet.

And no, I’m not googling it. I’m asking ChatGPT and/or Gemini to help me figure it out — step-by-step, when I’m ready. That’s the point, right? We’re not doing this alone.

If You’re New, Here’s What I Want You to Know

You don’t need to be technical to start using AI tools. You don’t need to understand everything. You just need to be a little curious and willing to try.

If you're already good at explaining things, solving problems, or just asking good questions — congratulations. You're already halfway there. The rest is just learning how to talk to a tool that listens really well when you’re clear.

I don’t know half of what I’m doing, but I do know how to keep trying. I can’t teach you everything, but I can cheer you on and tell you what I’ve figured out so far. If that sounds helpful, come hang out at kellyhaynie.com.

Come back tomorrow for a list of surprising things AI has helped me do!