Acknowledgments

Writing a book about working with AI tools is, unavoidably, a recursive endeavor. The people who helped shape this work did so through conversation, critique, and the generous gift of their time and expertise — and in that sense, this is a fundamentally human project.

Technical Reviewers

My deepest gratitude goes to the technical reviewers who caught errors, challenged assumptions, and made this book more accurate and useful. Any remaining errors are mine alone.

Early Readers

Thank you to the early readers who worked through rough drafts and provided the kind of honest feedback that only comes from people who have nothing to gain by being polite. Your marginal notes, your "this doesn't make sense" flags, and your occasional "this is exactly what I needed" notes shaped every revision.

Workshop Participants

This book grew substantially from workshops and teaching sessions conducted over several years. Thank you to every participant who asked a question I hadn't anticipated, who told me when an explanation didn't land, and who shared their own AI workflows with curiosity rather than defensiveness. You taught me as much as I taught you.

The AI Tools Themselves

It would be strange not to acknowledge the tools that are the subject of this book. Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot, and the others are not sentient collaborators, but they are remarkable instruments. Working with them daily — experiencing their capabilities and their failures firsthand — is what made this book possible.

My Readers

Finally, thank you to you — whoever is holding this book or reading this file. The fact that you are trying to get better at something that matters is, in itself, a contribution to a world that needs more thoughtful AI practitioners.

Use this well.