We're adding AI to everything. We forgot to ask, what for?
When the new current came,
everyone threw out their compasses.
It was faster, they said.
Why row when the tide pulls for you?
Boats that once charted careful lines
now drifted wherever the pull felt strongest.
Look how far we've come, they shouted;
comparing distances, not destinations.
But the old captains watched quietly,
hands still on their worn instruments,
remembering that a current
never asks where you meant to go.
And when they looked up from their speed,
surprised to find themselves
in harbors they'd never chosen,
or worse,
no harbor at all,
the compasses were already gone.
Because a compass doesn't promise speed.
It promises you'll recognize
where you've arrived.
Don't forget: problem first