AI is not just technology, but a future capability: a student’s two-year review
*▲The real value of AI is not to replace your thinking, but to free up your time. *
After writing articles for so many years, the reply I cherish the most is never a compliment, but “I listened.”
I recently received a message from a student. She said that in the past two years, she had watched me transform AI from something she described as “curious but distant” to a capability that she could use in her own life and work. She wanted to write down this journey and was willing to let me share it publicly. I read her text three times. After reading it, I wanted to press publish for her more than she did.
Thanks to Zhu Yajing for permission to share
A learning journey that started two years ago (Zhu Yajing’s look back)
Teacher Vista has been deeply involved in the fields of AI applications and digital media for many years, and it was actually more than two years ago that I first came into contact with his course.
It was the first time I took a teacher’s class at the Hsinchu Foreign Trade Association. Frankly speaking, at that time, AI was not as popular as it is now. My understanding of AI was still curious and unknown, and I also had some sense of distance and wait-and-see in my heart.
However, Vista teachers have already begun to combine AI with content creation and work applications, and transform these tools into truly practical methods, making AI no longer just a concept, but an ability that can be actually used in life and work.
In this era of information explosion, every second counts when learning. Finding good tools and methods can often get twice the result with half the effort.
The teacher once said something that impressed me deeply:
“The best content system does not replace your thinking, but frees up your time so that you can focus on what is really important: saying what only you can say.”
This sentence also made me rethink that the value of AI is not to replace, but to help us save time for the things that really matter.
Recently, I saw the teacher starting classes again. I almost didn’t hesitate and signed up for two classes at once.
Because AI is changing really fast, the tools you learn today may have new models and applications in a few months; but what is really important is not how many tools you learn, but how to build your own thinking and learning abilities, and know how to apply them in work and life.
AI is not just a technology, but a future capability; learning to make good use of it will become an important competitiveness in the future.
Learning is never about catching up with others, but about giving your future self more choices.
🛰️ Want someone to accompany you to see clearly in the wave of AI changes?
Almost all the public articles you see are finished products after repeated polishing. But what I cherish the most are the warm judgments before the finished product - this is exactly the reason why I created [Vista AI Inspiration Supply Station] (https://www.facebook.com/iamvista/subscribe/): a weekly thought note for fellow travelers in the AI era, sharing those Yoshimitsu Kataha that will not appear in formal articles with you who are willing to get closer.
Following her words, I want to say three more things
After reading her words, I would like to talk about three things that have been my deepest feelings in the past few years.
**First, what you are really learning is never AI tools. **
Tools will be changed, models will be upgraded, and usage will be iterated. I have taught hundreds of students in the past two years, and those who have gone the furthest are, without exception, not the ones who spend the most time chasing new tools. Instead, they regard every learning experience as an opportunity to “reorganize their thinking structure.” AI just makes it more urgent and worth doing.
**Second, the value of AI is not what it can replace you, but what you do with it when it is released. **
Zhu Yajing quoted me, something I have said hundreds of times in the past two years: A good content system allows you to focus on things that only you can say. In the same way, a good AI system allows you to focus on things that only you can judge, only you can be responsible for, and only you can love. If the time saved is used by you to do things that others can do, then AI has not helped you.
**Third, it is never too late to start from now. **
At the Hsinchu Foreign Trade Association class more than two years ago, most people in the audience were still in the “curious but wait-and-see” stage about AI. Looking back today, those who were willing to give it a try have already embarked on a completely different career curve. But this is not the advantage of being a first mover, but the advantage of being “willing to take action”. Anyone who starts today will see the same gap three months later as long as they are willing to move.
Want to continue learning with me?
If you also want to start turning AI into your own future capabilities, my next most direct entrance is the [AI Content Production System Workshop] (https://www.solo.tw/courses/ai-content) in Taipei on June 28th (https://www.solo.tw/courses/ai-content): 3 hours, limited to 16 seats, on-site use of [Claude Code] (https://docs.anthropic.com/en/docs/claude-code) to turn your past materials into a reproducible content production line.
If you want to get to know me first, my usual writing and thoughts are at vista.tw; one-man company products and courses are at solo.tw; enterprise AI content consultants are at content.tw; if you want to see my complete career, bibliography and works, at vistacheng.com. If you just want to remember one entry, vista.st will find all my places at once.
Finally, thank you Zhu Yajing for being willing to write down this experience and make it public. She said: Learning is to give your future self more choices. I want to forward this sentence again to you who are reading this now.
