The real AI skill nobody talks about...

Author

Jeff Sauer
August 09, 2025

In partnership with

Instead of learning to prompt (do this instead)

The $300k prompt engineer myth

Everyone thinks about prompting backwards.

People are obsessed with learning how to prompt AI better. Courses, frameworks, "prompt engineering" jobs paying $300k.

But I think we've got it completely wrong.

The Logic Problem

Here's the thing about prompting - it's just applied logic.

If you can't think critically now, you won't magically become better at it because you're talking to ChatGPT. The AI doesn't fix your reasoning. It amplifies it.

Those "$300k prompt engineers" aren't getting paid because they know secret prompt formulas. They're brilliant engineers who happen to excel at logical thinking - and they're applying that thinking to a new tool.

The prompting part is just the interface. The logic is what makes them valuable.

The Real Skill Gap

What AI actually reveals is whether you can evaluate information or not.

The gap between people who can spot BS and people who can't has been amplified 1000x by AI. Because now the BS comes faster, more thoroughly, and more convincingly.

Learning to prompt better won't fix that. Learning to think will.

Flip It: Prompt to Learn

Instead of learning to prompt, try prompting to learn.

I don't even Google anymore. I just open ChatGPT or Gemini on my phone and talk to it.

Last week on my morning walk, I asked about replacing WordPress infrastructure for my site with vibe coding. Instead of getting biased blog posts and vendor pitches, I got a complete action plan tailored to my specific needs.

Then I refined it: "Actually, I don't want to do that, I was thinking this instead."

It adapted. Improved. Gave me 80% of what I needed before I even started my workday.

I went from research mode to action mode in one conversation.

The Unknown Unknowns

There are things you know (known knowns).

Things you know you don't know (known unknowns).

And things you don't even know you don't know (unknown unknowns).

That last category is where most opportunities hide.

AI is the first tool in history that can help you discover your blind spots in real time. Not by teaching you to prompt better, but by letting you explore what you didn't even know to ask about.

The Better Approach

Instead of focusing on prompting frameworks, learn to have conversations.

Ask follow-up questions. Challenge the answers. Dig deeper into areas you hadn't considered.

Use AI to tell you what you don't know, not just to do what you already know faster.

Because the real power isn't in the prompting.

It's in the learning.

To Your AI-First Success,

Jeff Sauer

P.S. We're running another AI-First Challenge soon where we dive deep into this exact concept - using AI to uncover what you don't know you don't know. If you want to join the next one, hit reply and I'll get you the details.

P.P.S. I've created three ways to help you succeed, depending on how much support you need:

1) Join our FREE Community: Get instant access to our resource library, growth tools, and a network of forward-thinking entrepreneurs.

2) ProfitSchool Pro: Join our live sessions multiple times per week, where I personally guide you through implementing AI-first systems that scale.

3) Done-For-You Solutions: Let our expert team build custom AI automations that increase your profit per employee and help you scale without adding headcount. [See if this is right for your business]

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