Steve Jobs once said computers were "like a bicycle for the mind". I recently came across this quote and realized that he was, in a way, ahead of his time.
So much so, that it really fits AI better. Because, AI really is a bicycle for our minds. It's like a plugin for our thinking processes. I can test ideas, debate drafts, and discover unexpected parts of my Mind I was not even aware of.

Like a bicycle, it reduces the effort required to go from point A to point B.
But no bike drives itself, it needs a rider. Someone supplying the necessary impulse, direction and soul, The Prime Mover.

1. Agency

I grew up thinking that Intelligence and luck, are the two main factors that determine success. Later, I discovered that luck can be hacked, that it can be steered with Agency. And that Agency is more important than Intelligence.

Put simply, Agency beats Intelligence. Every time.

I love this graph, because it highlights that Intelligence is not the metric for success (Net Worth in this specific case), simply add Agency as a third dimension and all of it suddenly makes sense:

A person with Agency alone will persist in the face of failure until they succeed. A person with Intelligence alone often gives up before even trying.

The gap between potential and capability is widening in the AI era. And while AI improves productivity, it does not improve persistence (it arguably worsens it). I see it every day.
Whole teams with what feels like unlimited Intelligence at their disposal, and yet most of it sits unused beyond the initial excitement of discovery.

What about you ? You made a little prototype, posted it once and then ? You just sit there doing nothing.
In the land of AI, Agency is King.

tl;dr: If you have a bicycle but you don't use it, you don't have a bicycle.

2. Exploration

Nobody needs a rocket in an empty universe.
Nobody needs a bicycle in an empty city.
And nobody needs AI without Minds to explore.

We were given rockets (sorry it just sounded cooler than bikes) and suddenly the whole universe seems to have vanished. It is such a weird thing to have all this power and feeling like there's nowhere to aim it in the Latent Universe, isn't it ?

We love Rockets because they make inaccessible places like the Moon and Mars accessible.
AI works in the opposite direction, inwards. The Moon and Mars are now ideas and problems sitting in our own heads, too far within to reach until now.

tl;dr: AI helps us explores the Universe within.

3. Maintenance

The speed of AI turns small input errors into large scale catastrophes (you don't yank the steering wheel doing 80 mph on the highway, same idea). It could be a word in the prompt, an instruction you forgot inside an old skill (lesson learned), or even a webpage the model has read to answer…

These little inputs — like small movements of the handlebar — can silently steer large, complex projects away from their initial intent.

You need to do regular maintenance on your AI setup (I know, I know, it's boring).
Check your skills, your Claude memories, inspect the whole context, because I guarantee you will find things to change, update, delete...
Remember, a single sentence in a random forgotten skill can carry massive implications down the line.

It's a small habit. But as speed increases, the cost of not checking, far outweighs the little time spent doing so.

tl;dr: Eat your veggies, do the maintenance.

"A bicycle for the Mind"

What a beautiful quote, typical Steve Jobs. Ultimately, it does represent how I think about AI very well. Look after your bike, keep it clean and oiled. Then pick a direction and ride the damn bike !

See you on the road Anon.
Nahiko