After learning a ton about AI lately, I’ve found the one skill you still need to master even in the age of AI.
And no, it’s not prompt engineering.
It’s something much simpler.
Identifying stories in your day-to-day life.
At this point, you might be thinking “Wait, isn’t AI supposed to make content creation easier?”
What AI can't do for you
I mean, AI can crank out a LinkedIn post in seconds. It can rewrite your tweet ten different ways. It can even summarize your messy thoughts into something that almost sounds like you.
But here’s the thing...
If you don’t see the stories happening around you, how can you even feed AI the right inputs?
This is something I noticed while teaching Build in Public Mastery over the last few years. A lot of students struggled with finding the stories in their own lives.
It wasn’t that their lives were boring (but somehow most of them seem to think that’s the case!)
They just didn’t realize that a small happening, a quick thought, or a fleeting frustration could be the perfect story.
And even if they did recognize it, they often didn’t dig deep enough into the emotions, the quirks, the lessons that make a story come alive.
So they didn’t capture it.
And if it’s not captured… well, AI can’t help you.
Because AI is great at taking orders and processing whatever you feed it. But if your inputs are generic or missing key details, your outputs won’t be unique.
So far, storytelling is one of the few things AI can’t do.
Well… not until it can read our minds. (Is that coming soon? I don’t know.)
Right now, your biggest advantage is your unique lived experiences.
Your stories, your insights, the way you see the world.
That’s what makes your content stand out.
A re-imagined experience
In Build in Public Mastery, I created documents and worksheets to help my students build the muscle and habit of capturing stories. It worked, but to be honest, I wouldn’t say it was a great user experience.
It requires too much work!
If I were to reimagine the process, it would look like this:
✅ One-click story capture – Likely on your phone. Anytime you experience something, you just hit a button and start recording details before they fly away like a bird.
✅ A guided experience – In my experience teaching this, the hardest step is knowing which details to capture. So instead of staring at a blank page, you'd be guided through a structured process. You’re interviewed to recall emotions, key details, and the “why” behind the story, using different popular storytelling frameworks like FUEL. You don’t have to overthink.
✅ A story vault – Over time, you build a personal library of stories. And there are so many ways to use them. You can embed them in newsletters, social media posts, and videos, or share them in your next presentation or team meeting.
I’m pretty sure these stories will make you more unique and human, even if you’re using AI to help with everything else.
Do you already have the muscle to capture stories? Or are you still trying to build it?
