Don't fall for the AI snake oil

I am exhausted of seeing posts baiting you to reply so they can send you the most magical prompt that will create an n8n workflow automating a 100% of some complex work or creating a production ready app. Snake oil, I call BS.

Either their bar for what a great workflow or app is is too low or lying to your face. Probably a combination of both.

I still marvel at what you can get with a really well-crafted prompt (being good with words is becoming more important than ever), but going from “this page looks cool”, or “this n8n workflow works” to “this actually works reliably” takes way more than one prompt: debugging, copy/pasting errors, test runs, hours, and hours. Or as my friend Kelwin Fernandes who makes a living building AI system says:

Iterations, good data, reliable processes, change management, governance, etc, etc, etc. The prompt and automations are the easiest parts.

And it’s not just with apps. You can see it even with content. It’s not hard to spot AI slop, it’s everywhere. Great writing even, AI-assisted takes time, multiple drafts, care, and taste.

Don’t get me wrong, LLMs, are awesome. I use them everyday, they’ve made me more effective in my work, they’ve reduced the amount of mundane tasks I execute every day. I almost don’t write code anymore, just English. But precisely because they are so powerful, the temptation to sell the myth of effortless creation – the snake oil – for clicks has become rampant.

So don’t buy the snake oil. AI moves fast and it’s a great tool to transform words into apps, more words, images, videos. But it’s not a silver bullet, it’s just that, a tool, and as such you should hone and master if you really want to build great apps, write beautiful words, or make stunning images and engaging videos. Quality is forged in the honing, not given by a prompt.