Does AI work for you or do you work for AI?

Hey Judy — love this framing. I work on an innovation team as the AI integrator, so I think about this question almost daily.

My answer is centaur, but I'm strict about who's driving. AI does the heavy-lifting prep: first-pass storyboards, placeholder narration so I can feel the timing before paying for real VO, variations of a scene image so I can compare options fast. I stay on: the learning objective, the narrative spine, and every final word and pixel that ships.

The trap I watch for is reverse-centaur creep — when the model's first draft starts anchoring my thinking. If I generate before I've sketched the structure myself, the output quietly narrows what I consider possible. So my rule: I write the design down before I open the model. AI refines my plan; it doesn't write it.

Honestly? AI does the busywork, and it does it fast enough that I can spend the saved hours on the parts that actually make training work — talking to SMEs, watching real learners, and iterating. That's the trade I'm happy with.