The J-Curve of learning AI: How ChatGPT becomes more useful the more you use it
Like any powerful tool, AI—especially ChatGPT—follows a J-shaped learning curve. At first, your experience may be basic, maybe even frustrating. But the more you engage, refine your prompts, and integrate AI into your workflow, the more exponential the benefits become. Many people start by treating ChatGPT like a search engine and lose interest in it quickly as they are not using it to its full potential.
"I used to ask it questions I normally would ask a search engine. Now I am having full conversations with it when I am driving and have it create content from our conversation!"
This transition—from passive queries to active, high-leverage use—illustrates the J-curve in action.
The Early Plateau: Asking AI Like a Search Engine
When most people first use AI tools, they go in with high expectations but tend only to have it perform simple tasks: answering trivia questions, summarising articles, or generating ideas. The results are decent, but nothing groundbreaking. It’s like using a high-powered laptop just to check emails. At this stage, AI feels like an incremental improvement to existing tools rather than a game-changer.
The Dip: Frustration and Trial & Error
Then comes the dip. As you experiment with more complex queries—trying to get AI to write in your tone, generate strategic insights, or assist with creative work—you may encounter friction. The responses might feel generic, or you might struggle to phrase your prompts effectively. This is where many users get stuck. They think AI is useful but limited. But in reality, the limitation isn’t the AI—it’s how they’re using it.
The Exponential Upswing: AI as a Thought Partner
Once you push through the dip and refine how you interact with AI, everything changes. Instead of using ChatGPT as a simple Q&A tool, you start integrating it into your workflow in deeply strategic ways:
Using it to outline and draft content using verbal communication in voice mode
Refining ideas with it like a sounding board
Automating strategy insights using the task feature
Developing frameworks and plans for complex ideas like planning events or even marketing plans and brand strategies
Structuring and iterating complex reports
At this point, AI becomes less of a tool and more of an extension of your thinking process. You give it context, train it on your style, and tweak its outputs—leveraging it as a multiplier of your own expertise.
How to Move Up the J-Curve Faster
If you’re still in the early stages, here’s how to accelerate your progress:
Go beyond simple prompts – Instead of “What are some blog ideas?”, try “Generate a blog outline based on the conversation we just had and write it in the style of our brand guidelines (attached)”
Refine and iterate – If the response isn’t quite right, tweak your instructions rather than abandoning the tool. The first draft should never be published as-is; your tweaks and input are what make it more human, genuine, and uniquely yours. Over time, AI learns from your refinements, gradually getting closer to producing outputs that align with your style and intent.
Integrate AI into your workflow – Use it for more than just ad hoc questions. Let it assist with research, drafts, brainstorming, and analysis.
Feed it context – The more you train ChatGPT with background information, the better its responses will be.
Experiment with real-time collaboration – Voice dictation, live editing, and co-writing can unlock new efficiencies.
Final Thoughts
AI tools like ChatGPT are, of course, learning machines. That means they become exponentially more useful as you improve, they will learn from and about you. The J-curve is real—if you stick with it, you’ll go from using AI for simple queries to having it draft full-fledged content while you’re on the go.
The question isn’t whether AI can help you. The real question is: How far up the curve are you willing to go?
