The number one skill to develop now – even for the AI-anxious

If ‘excitement’ doesn’t quite sum up your feelings about AI right now, what does? Discomfort? Frustration? Denial?

If so, you’re not alone.

This surge of AI activity in the tech world – and in the media – marks one of the biggest shifts in technology and our working lives in living memory. And when tectonic change happens, some discomfort is inevitable. Especially while we’re still waiting to see where all the pieces end up.

Suddenly, it’s not only humans who can come up with ideas. It’s not only people who can draft documents or suggest structures, write code, design, animate … the list goes on. So, we naturally may be asking, are our jobs at risk?

Added to this, when we first dabble with the tools, we may find their behaviour uncomfortably unfamiliar. We’re used to computer programs that behave predictably and consistently. Not so with ChatGPT, Copilot and co. You can feed in the same prompt a hundred times, and every time you’ll get a different output.

No wonder many of us get stuck or give up.
 

Beyond the discomfort

But giving up would be the biggest mistake to make at this point.

Because if we can get over the strangeness, we can start to adapt our approach and behaviour towards this new technology, opening up the vast possibilities it offers.

Rather than thinking in terms of mastering something very technical, we need to think about becoming AI literate.

One of the reasons learning to master AI feels difficult is because it’s more like learning a language than learning a traditional software tool. Like a language, generative AI adapts and evolves over time.

And to become fluent in AI, we need immersion, continuous practice and repeated exposure. Like language learning, AI literacy requires practice to learn not just how to communicate with AI tools but also how to think alongside them.
 

So what exactly is AI literacy?

AI literacy is about readying yourself to not just exist but thrive in the world of AI technology.

Being AI literate means you can understand, evaluate and use AI systems and tools – and use them responsibly, ethically and effectively.

It’s not just knowing one particular tool inside and out. It’s shaping an attitude and approach that sets you up to get the most out of AI tools, even as they keep changing and evolving.

Doing this means developing an evolving skill set – with critical thinking leading the way. It’s so important to know the limitations as well as abilities of AI systems. You need to be able to evaluate their outputs, not just take whatever they give you on the first go. And you’ll get to understand how AI can complement or enhance human expertise in any given field or task.

AI literacy can empower you – enhancing activities from data analysis to decision making, from problem solving to creative processes. And it will ensure you understand where AI can excel and where it might stumble.

It’s not just about learning how to write well with AI. It’s about learning how to think better with it.
 

The stages of AI literacy

If all this feels overwhelming, just remember that becoming AI literate is like learning any new skill: there’s a journey involved. You only need to be wherever you are on it now, with a willingness to keep edging forward.

Whether you’re just starting out or already exploring ways to embed AI, knowing where you are on the journey can help you take the next step.

Here’s a simple guide to the stages – consider where you are (and what’s ahead):
 

Stage 1: trying things out

At this stage, you’re occasionally experimenting – maybe asking ChatGPT a question, summarising a meeting or brainstorming ideas. You’re curious but not yet confident. Your results are mixed, as you’re still figuring out how to communicate well with AI or choose the right tools.

→ Example: You ask ChatGPT, ‘Write an introduction for my article’ and get something generic because the AI doesn’t yet have enough context.

Stage 2: getting confident

You now understand what AI can do and regularly use it for clearly defined tasks, making immediate efficiency gains. You’re experimenting and finding quick wins – automating repetitive tasks, generating ideas or drafting content. You become comfortable writing specific, structured prompts that consistently get results.

→ Example: You know how to instruct ChatGPT effectively, using a prompt like ‘Summarise this report into a short email aimed at busy executives’ and getting accurate and helpful output in moments.
 

Stage 3: making it part of your daily routine

At this stage, you’re integrating AI tools more deeply into your daily tasks or team workflows. You’re building repeatable processes or custom bots that speed up tasks and help you collaborate and execute projects. You regularly use AI to optimise how you work and can see the significant productivity gains from it.

→ Example: You create an AI-driven workflow that automatically analyses meeting transcripts, identifies action points and assigns tasks clearly across your team – saving hours of manual follow-up.

Stage 4: transforming how you write and think

Now AI isn’t just enhancing existing processes – it’s changing the way you think and work. You’re creating entirely new workflows, services or strategies using AI’s ability to quickly analyse data and surface insights. You use AI to innovate, solve complex challenges and proactively drive decisions, unlocking capabilities that weren’t accessible before.

→ Example: You use AI to rapidly analyse large volumes of customer feedback, market trends and competitor activity. From this you are able to identify and act upon opportunities to launch successful new products or services before your competitors.
 

How to develop AI literacy

As you make your way through these steps, you’ll keep developing your AI literacy by making sure you keep practising and experimenting.

Here are some things to focus on as you do:

• Structured prompting: learn to communicate clearly and precisely with AI. This is not so different from learning to write clearly in general! Get to understand the key components of effective prompts and keep refining until you get consistently useful results.

 

• Using leading platforms: it will help your journey if you invest time into reliable, user-friendly AI tools such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Anthropic’s Claude, or Google’s Gemini – the experience and consistency will speed up the learning curve. I personally recommend using the paid version of ChatGPT if you can: I believe it’s the most broadly useful AI for most people.

 

• Building repeatable processes: move beyond simple usage and look at how AI can fit into your work processes. Break down a large task (like creating a content plan) into smaller tasks and consider how you could use AI at each stage, rather than asking AI to tackle a mammoth task in one prompt. Doing this means you can adapt, test and refine over time to create efficient, repeatable workflows.

 

• Continuous experimentation: regularly test new AI tools and get to understand their different strengths and limitations. Staying curious yet sceptical is the perfect strategy.

Crucially, literacy in AI isn’t locked to a single platform. The skills you develop will set you up to work well with AI anywhere, across platforms and models.
 

Keeping humans in the loop

Even the most advanced AI tools still require human oversight. AI can accelerate and enhance human thinking, but critical thinking and ethical judgement are essential. As Rob Ashton has written on the Emphasis blog before, AI won’t (and shouldn’t) replace human judgement. We should be using AI to speed up the tasks that are a drag on our time, not to replace our thinking or creativity altogether.

As systems thinker Donella Meadows noted, interacting effectively with complex systems is like a dance. Becoming AI literate means learning how to dance gracefully and skilfully with AI systems. And you need to lead the dance, guiding and shaping the outcome – rather than expecting the system to independently produce exactly what you need every time.
 

Towards the unknown

With great change happening at great pace, we don’t know exactly where it will lead us yet. When any game-changing invention lands, there has to be a period of transition – from life before it to wherever it can take us.

But with the right attitude, the possibilities are vast – and they’re exciting. What seems indisputable is that in an AI-powered future, AI literacy isn’t merely desirable, it will be foundational.

It isn’t about removing humans from the loop – it’s about making humans smarter, faster and more capable. It’s about enabling us to achieve extraordinary outcomes that were previously unimaginable.

Wherever you are on this journey, remember: AI literacy isn’t about replacing you – or your skills. It’s about expanding them, and giving you powerful tools to unlock your creativity and potential.

Image credit: TippaPatt / Shutterstock

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Author: Stephanie Joy Hubbard

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Stephanie is a creative director with extensive experience in marketing, content strategy and generative AI. She advises clients on all aspects of their digital and brand content – from high-impact campaigns and storytelling to AI-driven innovation. As an expert in creative strategy and emerging technology, Stephanie helps brands navigate the evolving landscape of digital content, ensuring their campaigns are both impactful and future-proof. She also shares her insights on marketing and AI as a guest author here on the Emphasis blog and Knowledge Hub.