How are you using the substance?

June 2026 1 min read

You are buying inference tokens from a provider (like Anthropic) in different flavors (models) much like choosing types of gasoline. Naturally, some providers and some flavors are better than others.

The question is: how are you using this substance?

• Would you pour it out down to the very last drop?
• Do you have pre-made molds where you carefully pour it?
• Or are you just watering the entire surface to see what grows and what doesn't?

Given the sheer scale of experimentation, it is easy to imagine this substance being consumed in every possible way.

But what actually determines how you use it? Is it driven by:

• A cold, calculated strategy?
• Anxiety over consumption?
• Shame over lost opportunities?
• The heavy weight of responsibility to deliver?
• An expression of your inner child, treated as an act of play?
• Or maybe a combination of all the above?

More importantly: where does it lead, and what has it become for you?

• An expensive hobby.
• A vehicle for becoming a self-sufficient entrepreneur.
• An efficiency boost on the job, a learning partner, and a long-held dream finally realized.
• A partner that rarely says no.
• A tool that has cut your sleep by an hour or two.
• A major source of anxiety, fueled by the fear of missing out.
• Just another annoying trend that everyone keeps talking about.

For me, the answer lies in analyzing the end results once I step back from the daily operational noise. The tangible results I am getting and the way my life is changing serve as the true validation of the influence LLMs have on my life.

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