Self Directed

They tried to con me into paying more. I opened my Air Canada app last week, looking for a simple flight. Same route I always take, same preferred times. The app knew all that. That’s the point of loyalty, right? Convenience, personalization, maybe even a better deal. Instead, it offered me the wrong flights at sky-high prices. As my schedule that day was more important than airline loyalty, i decided to run the search on Google. There they were, "new" flights, on Air Canada, the times I...

When the Hubble Telescope started sending back its first pictures, the view looked spectacular but oddly empty. Giant gas planets, nothing more. One astronomer even said life elsewhere was unlikely — if there were other Earths, Hubble would’ve seen them by now. What he missed was that this was still early and the limitation of the lens. The telescope wasn’t built to spot small, rocky worlds. The data was full of hints, but no one knew how to read them yet. AI’s story feels a lot like that....

Lately, everyone online seems to be an “AI expert.” Feeds are packed with tutorials, screenshots, and overnight success stories: a hundred ways to “build something with AI.” It’s impressive—until you look closer. Because building the machine isn’t the same as winning the race. Knowing how to write prompts or wire up an API is like bolting together an engine. It’s useful. It’s even necessary. But mastery starts when the tires hit the track—when you can use that power under pressure, in motion,...