My Stance on AI
AI is a tool to free up people's time, not replace them.
AI doesn't get bored and lose focus, and it doesn't care if it's doing the same repetitive task day in and day out.
We use AI for the mundane review → categorize → save tasks. That way, our team isn't tied up with busywork and can focus on real operational problems.
When guided properly, it's great at reviewing data, reasoning through specs, and pulling out clean information across a large catalog far more consistently than any person could.
The Problem With Off-The-Shelf Tools
Most 3rd-party AI apps come with a few common issues:
- Inflated cost: Wrapper apps charge massive subscriptions for what costs pennies in raw API tokens.
- Generic fit: They're built for generic use cases, not our specific catalog schemas or workflows.
- Hallucinations & fluff: Raw models love to please—they'll ramble, make things up, and add unnecessary buzzwords.
- Lazy prompts: A vague prompt leads to bad output. Effective prompt engineering takes real thought and context.
- No database integration: They produce raw text instead of structured data ready to save into Shopify or Magento.
Why I Build My Own Tools
Direct API costs are remarkably cheap, but the real benefit is complete control:
- Workflow: I define the exact sequence of research, drafting, and validation steps.
- Input & Context: I supply the exact specs, images, and live search context the model needs.
- Guardrails: I use prompt restraints to keep the copy concise, factual, and free of AI clichés.
- Structured output: The model outputs clean JSON that syncs directly into Shopify metafields without back-and-forth chat.
How I Use It Day-to-Day
I use AI daily to turn rough notes into clean text, rapidly iterate code on my apps, and search for information conversationally.
Everything runs on a run-and-review model. The AI gets it right 99% of the time, and I review the output to catch the other 1%.
The trick isn't pretending AI is magic—it's understanding where it trips up and keeping human judgment at the wheel.