Are you faster than AI?

What we can learn from the legend of John Henry

Oct 12, 2025

Think back.

Waaaaay back.

To elementary school. Your teacher sits you and your class down for storytime. You settle in. It’s the story of John Henry.

John Henry was born with a hammer in his hand. He was stronger than any other child, and when he grew up, he was stronger than any other man.

After the Civil War, dangerous railroad jobs were some of the only places freedmen could find work. John Henry joined the ranks and worked as a steel-driver. When a new steam drill threatened to replace men like him, he challenged it.

He swore he could work faster and get more done than the machine. A contest was held.

John Henry triumphed over the machine. But after exhausting all his energy, he collapsed and died.

When your teacher finishes reading you the book, you learn this may have been a true story.

Fast forward to today. We are now competing with a new machine, making this story relevant once again.

Every day, I’m immersed in AI. I try new tools, I improve my workflows, and I show others how to use it to help humans. I’m optimistic about the technology’s potential, but often disappointed.

“I’m better and faster than AI at almost every task.”

In practice, I’m better and faster than AI at almost every task.

Editing video is a prime example. Last week, I spent an hour trying to get a new AI editor to trim down a video and add an animated transition for a simple social media post. The final video would be under a minute. Easy, right?

After an hour of frustration, I finally gave up and moved over to a traditional editing program. How long did it take me to do it myself?

Less than 15 minutes.

And the Midjourney photo included in this post? That took around 30 minutes. It’s not even close to my vision, but I decided this one at least conveyed the point I was trying to get across.

You’ll hear people say, “AI is a tool.” That’s true. It can assist us, but it’s not able to fully replace us… yet.

But there’s a shift. The kind of work I did pre-AI doesn’t hold up to today’s standards. A big part of my business is my YouTube channel. But I’m competing with AI bots, AI “slop,” and content farms full of people churning out AI content at all hours of the day.

AI isn’t perfect, but it’s raising the bar. More, faster, now!

How can I compete?

And how will you compete when imperfect AI becomes the norm in your profession?

Just like John Henry and the steam drill, we can outpace AI for a while. But where will that leave us?

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