A Reminder: The Tool Is Not the Goal (Not Even GPT-5)

I got obsessed with GPT-5—again—but the lesson is timeless: play with tools, then return to the real goal—what you actually want to create in the world.

Another model dropped. Four days ago. it was GPT-5. OpenAI changed our lives once, and now they’re saying they’ve done it again. I want to talk about my brain—because I know my brain. I love new tools. I get obsessed with new tools. And yes, I got obsessed with this one.

Meeting a new set of models is always intriguing. GPT‑4.1 felt like 4, and 4 was a big leap—no question. Then came Claude 4, and Google Gemini Pro 2.5. For me, Gemini 2.5 was “oh my God” level. I built everything I could with it—websites, automations, so much stuff. And then, in the last couple of weeks, I stopped using it because I’d already built what I wanted.

Now GPT‑5 shows up and—guess who’s back online? Mr. DYS. I go deep. I watch all the videos. I run all the prompts. I pay too much money just to try the new thing. And I love this tool. It’s not perfect. In some areas the others are better—Gemini is great at finding problems in code; Claude is amazing at coding. But GPT‑5 feels so comprehensive. It’s nice to work with.

Here’s why I’m telling you this: it’s okay to play. Play lets you learn the tool. When you know the tool, you can use it in real life. Games matter. But there’s a trap I have to keep reminding myself about.

The tool is not the goal.

People obsess over comparisons: is this better than the last one, better than the competitor, better than Grok, better than Gemini? We make the tool the goal. That’s the wrong question.

The right question is: What do I want to build? What do I want to create in this world? What do I want to manifest in my life and see in my day-to-day?

Maybe the right tool isn’t AI at all. Maybe it’s a towel, a spoon, a car to go to the beach and build sandcastles. You don’t need AI for that. AI can help—but it’s still just a tool. Don’t aim for the tool. Aim for reality.

Play with the tools. Learn them. Have fun—yes, it’s addictive. But then come back to purpose. Decide what you want to create, and let the tool serve that.

Here’s my example. AI is helping me right now. If you’re hearing this—or reading it—AI helped me distribute my thoughts. It helped transcribe my voice and turn it into a blog post. That’s something I wanted to manifest: to share what I say, consistently, with you. So I built it. Now it works for me.

This is our moment in history. The digital world is pretty much “sold.” Now we get to come back to reality and create here—using intelligence, information, automation. I know a lot about automation. All of it can empower you in this life, in these three dimensions—and I’d say four, because there’s also time.

Focus on the right things, and they will be manifested in your life.