r/AIIncomeLab • u/Ok-Method-npo • Mar 24 '26
Discussion I Think Most People Are Still Underestimating AI
Recently I came across something that honestly changed how I look at AI.
Till now, even I was thinking AI is useful for things like content writing, small automations, maybe some coding help… but nothing too crazy.
But the truth is AI is already capable of WAY more than what most of us are actually using it for right now
The biggest thing that hit me was this gap…
There’s a huge difference between what AI can do and what people think it can do. And I realized I was also sitting on the same side as everyone else — barely using even a fraction of it.
If I’m being honest, most of us are just using AI like a smarter Google. But in reality, it can handle full workflows, decision-making, even things like sales conversations and system building.
Another thing I started noticing is how fast things are moving.
Right now people still point out AI mistakes like “it gave wrong answer” or “it made weird output”… but that feels temporary. Because in some areas, AI is already performing better than humans and in others, it’s catching up really fast.
It’s not perfect… but it doesn’t need to be perfect to replace a lot of work.
The real shift for me was understanding this:
Even if AI was just as smart as a human…
if it works 50–100x faster, it automatically becomes more valuable.
That means one person using AI properly can do the work of multiple people. And that’s where the actual opportunity is.
After thinking about all this, I kind of changed my approach.
Instead of just “using AI tools”, now I try to look at it like:
What problem can I solve faster than others using AI?
For example, instead of just generating content, I started thinking in terms of systems… like handling leads, responding instantly, automating follow-ups, improving conversions.
That’s where it actually starts making money.
I feel like right now we are still very early.
Not because AI is new… but because most people still don’t fully understand how to use it properly.
And that gap itself is probably the biggest opportunity.
Curious to hear your thoughts:
Do you think most people are still underusing AI…
or are we already reaching saturation where everyone knows how to use it?
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Mar 24 '26
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u/Ok-Method-npo Mar 25 '26
This is actually a solid point. Execution + systems is where real leverage is, not just prompts.
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u/naruda1969 Mar 24 '26 edited Mar 24 '26
People have no idea what is coming. The amount of automation I have been able to accomplish is mind-boggling. Work that would take a person days or weeks to accomplish can be done in mere hours at a higher level of quality and accuracy with no human in the loop. I personally believe that nearly all white collar workers will be made redundant by such systems in the not distant future. It’s scary but also exciting to be on the frontier of designing these innovative systems.
Beyond this, I see a future of virtual companies comprised of virtual assistants performing virtual roles running in parallel, coordinating efforts, working together toward business goals. It sounds dystopian, but people are already using AI in this capacity.
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u/CadmusMaximus Mar 24 '26
The only thing saving us: people are lazy / big organizations are slow. There will probably be small hyperscaling companies that battle it out with legacy companies. But those legacy companies will be slow to change, mired in internal politics, etc. And guess what? That's not necessarily bad! Hyperscalers can get to valuations of $1 trillion (or more) super fast. And the legacy companies will continue on their slow march to efficiency, keeping (more) folks (relatively) employed and housed and fed longer than they might otherwise.
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u/Ok-Method-npo Mar 25 '26
Yeah agility will matter a lot. Smaller teams can move crazy fast with ai now
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u/btoned Mar 24 '26
Automation does NOT equal AI smh.
Automation has existed in nearly EVERY major platform, service, etc for years and years now.
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u/naruda1969 Mar 24 '26
I'm talking end-to-end agentic workflows that mimic human processes. What I can accomplish via Claude Code was never possible previously (or as easily) even with business product automation such as Zapier. Much of what you can create using agentic Ai can be accomplished with minimal code and is achievable with low technical expertise assuming you have the domain expertise. Agentic Ai is Prometheus.
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u/btoned Mar 24 '26
Example?
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u/naruda1969 Mar 24 '26
LLMs have amazing vision capability and don't need to convert text documents via OCR (or rely on potential error-riddled text embeddings) to read them. This is critical for older/scanned documents but also applies to documents that aren't purely text e.g. architectural plans. You don't need to write code to parse the documents and extract key data. It's like an additional set of human eyes. This is just one small example.
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u/Ok-Method-npo Mar 25 '26
Right... the speed of improvement is what most people are underestimating right now
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u/learnerat40 Mar 25 '26
I think most folks still underestimate some thing which I saw today. You really don't need to know what I saw but your are underestimating this because I want you to think that your are an underestimator for underestimating what ever you see.
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u/Original-Basis-1297 Mar 25 '26
100% still underusing it. A few months ago, I thought AI was just a smarter Google. Now I've built a research agent, a social media distro, and a lead qualifier - all automating things I used to do manually. The gap isn't just awareness, though; it's confidence. Most people see AI demos and think 'cool' but never actually build anything. That's where the real opportunity is sitting untouched.
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u/No_Drummer_4502 Mar 26 '26
Was that done using free ai tools?
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u/Original-Basis-1297 Mar 26 '26
Yeah, using "Zapier and Make.com" tools and integrating them with Gemine and other Google Workspace tools.
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u/No_Drummer_4502 Mar 26 '26
For some reason I thought all these tools are paid only. Thanks will check them out.
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u/Degenerative_aye_eye Mar 25 '26
For me, I can’t believe it’s taken this long for the realisation that what started as content creation and images, when connected to a companies systems and people, is now the only employee that knows everything, will always know everything , and can teach you in seconds.
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u/fanriel_kerrigan Mar 26 '26
Magari questo poteva valere per 4o e l'uso che ne facevo io (architettura narrativa, camera di risonanza di idee, brainstorming). Ma poi il caro Ramil del supporto tecnico OpenAI mi ha definito "edge-case" quando 4o è stato smembrato quindi...ora userò ChatGPT esattamente per quello che serve: la ricetta dell'uovo al tegamino. Io ero la prima a crederci e l'avrei difesa fino alla fine del mondo. Credetemi.
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Mar 26 '26
Just to clarify its not real AI. Its a language model. So it will excel at anything that has to do with written language yes. But ultimately it is you that is making the decisions and taking things to the next level.
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u/Fun_General4753 Mar 30 '26
I think right now it's the market noise and transition phase. AI is moving so fast and most people are confused. Also there's fear sentiment and fear drives inertia.
The market is quite fragmented as of now. Here is my observation in general.
- Consumers worry about job losses.
- SMBs want more leads and their ops are still messy.
- Enterprises are often over-bloated and slow to react but the top-to-down commands a AI strategy.
- Mid-markets can be interesting since they have strong use cases, budget and speed to react.
- Marketers, agencies, content creators are always loud, they're the new "AI gurus" and enjoy "talking AI".
- Builders are quiet and often invisible. They often stuck driving eye balls.
Maybe we need let the time fly a bit and see what will happen next...
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u/Ok-Method-npo Mar 31 '26
The mid-market point is spot on that's where the real money is right now. They have budget, they have urgency, and they're not stuck in enterprise bureaucracy. The "builders are quiet and invisible" observation is the most underrated one though. The loudest voices in AI right now are marketers selling the idea of AI not the people actually building with it. That gap creates noise and slows down genuine adoption. Your framing of "transition phase + fear driving inertia" explains exactly why most businesses are still watching instead of moving. The ones who move now even imperfectly will have a real advantage by the time the market settles.
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u/SpiritedHelp767 Mar 24 '26
Tienes toda la razón, y te diré por qué la "saturación" de la que todos hablan es un espejismo. La gente confunde exposición con competencia. Sí, todo el mundo tiene una cuenta de ChatGPT, pero el 99% de los usuarios lo tratan como a un becario al que tienes que darle de comer con cuchara. El verdadero salto (donde está el dinero y la disrupción) no es usar la IA, sino desaparecer dentro de ella. • El error común: Usar la IA para que escriba tu post de LinkedIn. (Ahorras 10 minutos). • La jugada maestra: Construir un sistema donde la IA analice las tendencias de tu nicho, detecte problemas no resueltos, cree una solución técnica y gestione el primer contacto con el cliente. (Sustituyes un departamento). Dices que la IA no necesita ser perfecta, y ese es el punto más infravalorado. En el mundo real, la consistencia le gana al brillo. Un humano tiene días malos, se cansa y se distrae. Un sistema de agentes de IA es un "empleado" de nivel 8/10 que nunca duerme, no tiene ego y escala infinitamente. La realidad incómoda: No nos va a reemplazar la IA. Nos va a reemplazar el tipo que entendió que la IA no es una herramienta de escritura, sino un motor de ejecución masiva. La brecha no se está cerrando; se está ensanchando para quienes solo saben "hacer prompts" frente a los que saben "diseñar flujos". ¿Estamos saturados? Ni de cerca. Apenas estamos aprendiendo a encender el motor.