Flow state in the age of AI
The real AI superpower is learning to enter a creative flow state almost on demand, unlocking what humans and AI can achieve together.
I nearly gave up on We Are as Gods (Amazon affiliate link).
Honestly, the first half did not really grab me. But then the book started describing something I have struggled to put into words: achieving flow state with AI.
Musicians know the feeling. So do developers.
When you are playing with a great band, writing a song, or deep inside an interesting technical problem, the conscious effort almost disappears. Ideas connect naturally. Time disappears. You are no longer trying to create. You are simply creating.
That feeling used to be rare for me.
Now it feels much closer to my normal working state.
Something clicked
This did not happen immediately.
I have been using AI heavily in my day job for more than three years. But since last year, I have also been using it very differently: as a builder in my spare time, across the full end-to-end product development flow.
Alongside my day job as a senior engineering manager, I have spent nights and weekends building products, websites, apps, and games with the latest AI tools and workflows. I published Heart of the House, an AI-powered home maintenance app, and have continued building many other apps and games.
Some nights, I have been so inspired that I have kept going until the early morning. When you are living it, it is hard to estimate the hours, but my best estimate is more than 1,000 hours in the last six months alone.
I believe the only way to learn something deeply is by doing it. So that is what I have been doing. A lot.
At first, using AI required constant conscious effort. I had to stop, formulate a prompt, provide the right context, wait for the result, and figure out what to do next. The tools were useful, but operating them repeatedly interrupted my thinking.
After one or two months of intensive use, something changed.
It genuinely felt as if my brain had adapted to this new way of working. I stopped treating AI as a separate tool and started thinking with it.
Today, I rarely type long prompts. I talk.
I use dictation to express ideas while they are still forming. I can direct coding tools remotely from my phone, review their work, change direction, and keep moving without leaving the creative loop.
The mechanics have started to disappear into the background.
That is when AI began to feel less like a productivity tool and more like a creative superpower.
The lesson of centaur chess
The book connects this idea to Garry Kasparov and what became known as centaur chess, where humans and chess engines competed together.
The interesting discovery was that the strongest results did not necessarily come from the best human or the most powerful computer. A well-coordinated human and machine could outperform both.
The advantage was in the collaboration.
That feels exactly right.
AI brings speed, breadth, persistence, and an almost unlimited ability to explore. Humans bring direction, curiosity, taste, lived experience, and lateral thinking.
AI can generate a hundred possibilities. A human can recognize the strange one that might actually become something special.
The combination becomes powerful when each side is doing what it does best.
Flow is the real unlock
When people talk about 10X productivity with AI, the conversation usually focuses on how quickly it can generate code or complete individual tasks.
I think the bigger advantage is staying inside the creative process for longer.
An idea can become a design, then a prototype, then a tested implementation while the original thought is still alive. The feedback loops become so short that experimentation feels almost continuous.
But there is a learning curve.
If you have tried AI and it still feels awkward or underwhelming, keep going. Use your voice. Share unfinished thoughts. Give it context instead of isolated commands. Learn when to trust it, when to challenge it, and how to keep your own judgment in control.
At first, using AI may consume more attention than it returns. With enough deliberate practice, that relationship can reverse.
AI alone does not give you superpowers.
But learning to achieve flow with it can genuinely feel like it does.
Joonas
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.