What horse riders know about AI that you don't 🐴

Horsey saddle makers earned big for 2,100+ years.

The masses flocked to a local saddle maker for cloth pads to protect their cushy derrieres. For centuries, riding a horse was the easiest and fastest way to get around.

In France, these bourreliers crafted richly decorated saddles for knights and wealthy travelers.

By the 19th and early 20th century, every town had a saddle maker and harness shop.

If I were a parent back then, I’d have nudged my son or daughter towards this profitable career.

Enter Carl Benz and his idea for the humble automobile.

Within a few decades, the car put 99% of saddle makers out of business. What was once a trade became a boutique skill.

Horsey lovers still pay for fancy saddles today; an entry-level saddle starts at $400 while the Ferraris of the saddle world sell for over $3000.

Alas, I’m not a horsey lover, so I don’t own a Harris Western Saddle, but I’m fascinated that people will pay so much for it.

Artist, writers, musicians, animators, coders, translators, radiographers, and (insert your profession here), all worry AI will send their work the way of the humble bourrelier.

They’ve a reason to lie awake at night or writing into the mainstream media worrying about AI.

ChatGPT, Claude (it won’t be Grok), or some other unreleased model will kill off many of today’s trades.

Those doing entry-level work that AI can easily replicate shouldn’t expect the market to pay them much longer.

But…

The market will always demand a boutique craftsperson.

The kind of person who knows how to carve the finest Hermes leather into the pinnacle of horse craftsmanship.

The kind of person who puts a little love into their work.

I write for about an hour every morning over coffee after the kids go to school or summer camp.

Granted, I could generate the words faster with ChatGPT, but I enjoy practicing a skill I’ve spent twenty years developing.

What the market pays me for humble wordplay is a nice benefit.

I’m pragmatic too.

(I need to eat.)

So, I invest time figuring out how to use AI for different parts of my business. I’ve no plans to use AI to replace the act of writing, but learning how to craft effective prompts is helping me amplify ideas for creative projects.

I spent this week vibe coding a web project with AI.

Using a prompt writing framework, I spun up my project over the course of a few days. I’m excited about it. I wouldn’t have been able to launch this project without either spending thousands on a developer or using AI to help me ideate.

And I still had time to write.

Right now, you’re probably in one of two teams: panicking about AI taking your job or carefully using it for business or creative projects.

I know what side I’m on.

If you’d like to take this boutique approach 🐴 to using AI, check out Prompt Writing Studio.