A scientist friend once told me something that stuck: “The most important words in science aren’t ‘Eureka, I found it.’ They’re ‘Hmm, that’s funny.’”
She was talking about curiosity. The willingness to notice when something doesn’t fit, and the drive to figure out why.
That’s also the real differentiator in AI adoption.
I’ve watched people with deep technical backgrounds freeze when AI produces something unexpected. They know the theory. They understand the architecture. But when the output surprises them, they hesitate.
I’ve also seen total beginners crush it. Not because they’re smarter or more technical, but because they’re curious enough to ask better questions.
The shift I keep seeing:
- From “Can AI do this?” to “What happens if we try this?”
- From “What’s the best practice?” to “What don’t we know yet?”
- From “What’s the ROI?” to “What did we just learn?”
There’s a Post-It on my monitor that says “Can Claude Code do this better?” It’s there as a reminder to stay curious, to maintain a sense of playfulness about this technology.
Curiosity is a choice. Right now, being curious is valuable. Maybe the most valuable choice you can make.
The people winning with AI aren’t the ones with the most credentials or the fanciest setup. They’re the ones who notice when something’s funny and get curious enough to figure out why.
Learning starts with noticing. And noticing starts with caring enough to pay attention.