I remember when I first came across Google Search.
Back then, the internet was more a place to visit than a place to use. A few fun websites, some chat rooms… not much more.
But Google changed that. At first, it was a conscious decision: “Maybe I can find that online?” I started small; who was in that movie, or where’s the nearest Indian restaurant? But over time, those searches got deeper: How do I fix the lock on my car boot? How do I write a resume? Suddenly, Google wasn’t just fun, it was functional. It became the first place I turned to when I needed help.
I’m now seeing the same kind of mindset shift with AI.
This weekend, I helped my mum with a fiddly job: extracting data from multiple Word documents and fitting it into a consistent template. In a pre-AI world, I would’ve just knuckled down with copy-paste. Maybe a Mailmerge if I was feeling fancy.
But this time, I asked AI for help.
It wrote macros. It scraped data, even from tricky text boxes. It sorted everything into Excel, then into neatly formatted templates. What would have taken hours was done in minutes.
Here’s the thing: I’m not a developer. I’m not technical. But AI let me think like a problem-solver.
And the real shift? It wasn’t just that I used AI, it’s that I thought to use it.
That’s the new mindset I’m building: Instead of going straight to old habits, I pause and ask, could AI help here? Even if I don’t know exactly how.
Sometimes the answer is no. But increasingly, it’s yes.
Just like search engines rewired how we seek information, AI is starting to rewire how we approach problems; whether they’re admin tasks, creative challenges, or operational headaches.
This mindset matters, especially in sectors like not-for-profits, where time is tight and capacity even tighter.
We don’t need everyone to become AI experts.
But we do need to believe we can give it a try.
Because that belief, that curiosity, is where the real transformation starts.