Who will train the pilots?

The other day, I was driving home with my 15-year-old daughter and asked if she uses AI in school.

Her answer? “No. Our teachers don’t let us. They say it just gives us all the answers.”

That frustrated me—not because I think kids should rely on AI, but because it reveals a failure to see where the world is going.

I don’t care if my daughter has the answers. I care that she knows how to ask better questions—questions that come from curiosity, compassion, and taste.

Because the future won’t belong to those who just know how to use AI.
It will belong to those who know how to think with it.

Pilots vs. Passengers in the Age of AI

In 1903, the Wright brothers defied gravity.
They rewrote the rules of human mobility.
And almost no one knew how to fly.

The challenge wasn’t just building the airplane—it was training the pilots.

At first, flight was chaotic. No structured lessons. No manuals. No experienced instructors. Early pilots learned through trial and error—often at great risk.

Today, we stand at a similar crossroads—not in aviation, but in AI.

AI is the airplane. And right now, most people are just pressing random buttons in the cockpit, hoping they don’t crash.

The Flight School for AI

A good pilot doesn’t just push buttons—they understand how the plane responds. They anticipate turbulence. They adjust.

Similarly, mastering AI isn’t just about typing prompts. It’s about understanding how AI thinks, why it makes decisions, and how to refine its reasoning.

But the best AI users go even further.

• They bring deep curiosity—pushing AI beyond the obvious, beyond the generic, into new creative territory.

• They bring compassion—knowing that AI isn’t just a tool for efficiency, but a way to amplify human insight, connection, and care.

• They bring taste—an ability to discern what’s good, what’s worth sharing, what resonates. AI can generate endless possibilities, but who will separate signal from noise?

This is what will separate pilots from passengers in the age of AI.

The Role of Leaders: Becoming Flight Instructors

In the early days of aviation, flight schools didn’t just teach mechanics; they taught the physics of flight—how wind, gravity, and lift work together.

That’s exactly what we need now.

As leaders, we must become the flight instructors—not just teaching people how to use AI, but how to think with it.

• We need to teach people how to ask better questions—because AI is only as good as the curiosity that fuels it.

• We need to understand the “physics” of AI—how it processes information, why it makes certain decisions, and where its blind spots are.

• We need to cultivate taste—because AI can generate a million options, but only humans can recognize what truly resonates.

Because right now, the workforce is being handed an incredibly powerful aircraft.
But without guidance, most will never leave the ground.