New tools are coming to the door that didn’t exist before.

There are two very different conversations happening about artificial intelligence.

One says AI is going to change everything.

The other says AI is going to take everything.

Depending on what you read—or what happened at work this week—you may find yourself somewhere between excited and worried.

I understand both reactions.

AI is changing the way people work. It’s allowing people to perform tasks that once required different specialists, and those changes are especially noticeable in small businesses.

But there’s another side of this conversation that interests me just as much.

What if AI makes something possible for you that wasn’t practical before?

Not someday.

Now.

Think About What Used to Stand Between You and an Idea

Imagine you wanted to start a small business twenty years ago.

Depending on the business, you might have needed significant startup money.

A graphic designer.

A copywriter.

Someone to build a website.

A bookkeeper.

Marketing help.

Technical expertise.

Maybe office or retail space.

And, of course, enough time to coordinate all of it.

For many people, the idea would have ended right there.

Not because it wasn’t a good idea.

Because there were too many barriers between the idea and the attempt.

The internet removed some of those barriers.

AI is removing—or at least lowering—some more.

Today, one person can get help brainstorming an idea, researching a market, drafting website copy, developing marketing materials, analyzing information, organizing a project, and handling other work that once might have required several different people.

That doesn’t make the person an expert in all those things.

But it can make the first step much more possible.

AI Doesn’t Have to Be the Business

This is where I think people sometimes get sidetracked.

They hear about AI and immediately start asking:

How can I make money with AI?

Maybe that’s not the most useful question.

Try this instead:

What have I wanted to do that AI might help me do?

That’s a very different conversation.

Suppose you’ve always wanted to write.

AI doesn’t have to become the writer. It can help you brainstorm, organize, research, revise, and work through the moments when you’re staring at a blank page.

Suppose you know a great deal about gardening.

Maybe AI helps you organize that knowledge into articles, videos, a newsletter, a course, or downloadable resources.

Suppose you’ve spent thirty years in a trade.

Maybe it helps you turn what you’ve learned into training materials for people just entering the field.

Suppose you have an idea for a small business but don’t know much about marketing.

AI can help you explore customers, positioning, branding, content, and possible ways to test the idea before making a large investment. In fact, current research on entrepreneurial AI use shows prospective business owners are already using it for things such as business validation, branding and product development.

In all of those examples, AI isn’t the Direction.

It’s a tool that makes the Direction easier to explore.

You May Be More Capable Than You Were Two Years Ago

That’s one of the strangest things about this moment.

Your education may not have changed.

Your work experience may not have changed.

Your bank account may not have changed.

But what you’re capable of attempting may have changed considerably.

A person who couldn’t afford to hire help with five different skills can now get assistance with portions of all five.

A small-business owner can accomplish tasks that previously might have been handed to someone in another specialty.

Someone who has never written computer code can get help understanding it.

Someone uncomfortable with writing can get help turning rough thoughts into something clearer.

Someone with an idea but no idea where to begin can have a conversation about it.

That last one may be the most important.

Because sometimes the biggest obstacle isn’t ability.

It’s not knowing the next step.

Start With Something You Already Care About

If you decide to explore AI, I wouldn’t begin by asking it for fifty ways to make money.

You can.

You’ll certainly get a list.

But that’s the same problem we’ve been talking about all along.

Tools before Direction.

Instead, start with something that’s already yours.

Something you’ve wondered about.

Something you’re good at.

Something you’ve wanted to create.

A problem you would like to solve.

A skill you’ve accumulated over the years.

An idea you’ve dismissed because you didn’t know how to execute it.

Then bring AI into that conversation.

You might say:

“I’ve worked in construction for twenty years. What knowledge do I have that could be valuable to homeowners?”

Or:

“I’ve always wanted to create children’s stories, but I don’t know how publishing works. Help me understand the process.”

Or:

“I’m good at organizing things. What kinds of problems could that skill solve for small businesses?”

Or simply:

“Here’s something I’ve been thinking about. Help me figure out what the first small experiment might look like.”

Now AI isn’t handing you somebody else’s opportunity.

It’s helping you explore your own.

Small Experiments Matter

One of AI’s greatest advantages may not be that it helps people build bigger things.

It may be that it makes it easier to try small things.

You don’t necessarily have to spend six months developing an idea before discovering whether anyone wants it.

Create a rough version.

Ask questions.

Research the market.

Develop a sample.

Show it to someone.

Get feedback.

Improve it.

That matters because uncertainty keeps a lot of people from beginning.

We want to know whether something will work before we’re willing to try it.

Unfortunately, life doesn’t usually provide that guarantee.

But if the cost—in money, time, or expertise—of testing an idea becomes smaller, trying becomes easier.

AI cannot remove the risk of entrepreneurship, but it can lower some of the costs of exploring and testing an idea.

That’s a meaningful change.

AI Still Needs You

There is something else worth remembering.

AI doesn’t know what kind of life you want.

It doesn’t know what gives you a sense of purpose.

It doesn’t know which work leaves you feeling satisfied at the end of the day.

It can’t decide what you’re willing to sacrifice.

It can’t tell you which relationships matter most.

It doesn’t have your experiences.

Your judgment.

Your values.

Your story.

And it shouldn’t make those decisions for you.

Those belong to you.

AI can help you explore possibilities.

It can help you organize your thinking.

It can help you learn.

It can help you create.

It can help you move faster.

But you still have to choose the Direction.

What About the People Whose Work AI Is Changing?

This question matters too.

For some people, AI isn’t simply an exciting new tool.

It’s changing the work they’ve spent years learning to do.

Maybe that’s already happening to you.

Maybe you’re wondering whether the job you have today will look the same five years from now.

I wouldn’t pretend to know exactly how that story ends.

But I do think there’s another question worth asking alongside the frightening ones:

Could the same technology changing my work also help me create my next opportunity?

Maybe it helps you become more valuable in the work you’re already doing.

Maybe it helps you learn something adjacent to it.

Maybe it allows you to combine your existing experience with capabilities you never had access to before.

Or maybe it helps you begin building something of your own.

The answer will be different for everyone.

But the question is worth asking.

Your Next Step Doesn’t Have to Be Huge

Maybe you’re not ready to start a business.

That’s fine.

Maybe you don’t even know whether you want one.

That’s fine too.

Choose something small.

Take an idea you’ve been carrying around and spend an evening exploring it.

Ask AI to help you understand something you’ve always wanted to learn.

Use it to investigate an industry.

Develop a simple project.

Outline something you’d like to create.

Explore how a skill you already have might solve a problem for somebody else.

Don’t ask AI to decide your future.

Ask it to help you explore what’s possible.

Because this technology isn’t only changing what companies can do.

It’s changing what an individual can attempt.

And somewhere between the fear and the hype is a much more interesting possibility:

You may already have an idea, experience, interest, or ability worth pursuing.

The missing piece may simply be that you never had enough help to pursue it before.

Maybe now you do.

— Chase

What Could Be Possible for You?

Before choosing the tools, take some time to discover the Direction you want those tools to serve.

The Brighthaven Bay Alignment Workbook can help you explore your Calling, Direction, and the possibilities that may already be closer than you think.