AI is the new dragon in the town. Some of us are excited and some of us are scared. But how do we coexist in the AI world? Be it from the productivity tool perspective or from the application development perspective. AI is making a biggest stride. Let’s find the best ways to train the dragon to increase your productivity. We should use the tools effectively. Also, allow the AI to serve not just you but also your customers.
I recently watched the movie How to Train Your Dragon with my 8-year-old and my wife. It hit me – the Vikings of Berk weren’t that different from us. They lived in fear of something they didn’t understand. Then, one person decided to stop fighting. They started training and learned to ride.
In the world of software application development, AI is our night fury. It’s fast, it’s powerful, and if you don’t know how to ride it, it’s intimidating. And more importantly, no one has seen it before. There is no user guide for it. Obviously, then the scare will be more than understanding how to ride it. Let’s dive in to see how we can be more of a rider.
I tried answering the 5 questions that helped me stop running and start riding the AI dragon.
Q1: Why is everyone so frightened of the Dragon (AI) right now?
In the movie, the Vikings spent generations building walls and sharpening axes because dragons were pests that stole their sheep. In our world, the fear is similar – Will AI steal my job? Is it a black box we can’t control?.
The fear stems from the unknown. We see a massive surge in AI capabilities, and our first instinct is to defend. But just like Hiccup discovered with Toothless, the beast isn’t malicious. It’s just operating on a different set of rules. The fear of AI is often just a lack of proximity to it. I had a similar fear. But once I started understanding AI’s possibilities, I realized there are many applications. Many applications can be developed on top of it. The real challenge is not the AI itself. But the challenge is adopting and using it as a tool. This tool can help us solve challenges quickly.
Q2: What type of Dragon are you interested in riding?
Not every dragon is a Night Fury. Some are Gronckles (slow but sturdy), and others are Deadly Nadders. Every AI model comes with a specific purpose –
- Productivity Dragon – Tools like Cursor, Replit, Lovable, Kiro, or Antigravity enhance coding speed. They help us code at 10x speed.
- Application Dragon – LLMs that serve your customers directly via RAG or agentic workflows.
- Creative Multimodal Dragon – Models that generate the visuals for your next big idea.
The secret to becoming a master? Choose your need. Don’t try to ride a dragon that wasn’t built for your terrain.
Q3: How do we get train instead of running away from it in fear?
There is a common myth that we need to be master to compete with AI. My advice – Do not try to compete. You can not fireball a dragon out, and you can not out-compute an LLM.
Training is about co-existing. It’s about learning the cheat sheet, the guardrails. Just as Hiccup used a specific touch to calm a dragon, we use prompt engineering and fine-tuning to guide AI. You are the master of your own AI needs. The tool only goes where you steer it.
Q4: What happens when the half of the last fin is missing?
In the film’s climax, Toothless can only fly because Hiccup builds him a prosthetic tail fin and operates it manually. This is the perfect metaphor for the current state of AI.
AI will have some missing fin. We add the prosthetics like RAG, fine tuning, etc. It struggles with deep reasoning, edge cases, and the residue of complex human empathy. Fixing AI is a hard job. Humans will be in control. They will manually adjust the tail fin of the model. This ensures it doesn’t crash. The work is actually going to get tougher for humans. We are now responsible for the high-level logic. We must handle the final 5% that the AI may not be able to reach.
Q5: Can we really co-exist with these “Dragons”?
In my view, the answer is ‘absolutely’. But it requires a shift in mindset. This is the hardest part.
- Testing: Test your skills by building with AI. See where it fails and where you shine.
- Training: Spend time with these tools. Use them for your daily tasks until you feel they can work without your support. Then move on to the next.
The Verdict – AI is Here to Exist
The vikings eventually realized that having dragons on their side made their village stronger and faster. They became capable of reaching new horizons.
AI isn’t a passing storm. It is the new atmosphere and ecosystem that we should get used to. We can spend our lives sharpening axes, or we can build a saddle. I feel both are needed. AI is here to stay. Once you learn to train your dragon, you’ll realize the view from the top is much better. It’s a better perspective than the view from behind a wall.
What dragon are you training today?
Let me know in the comments or reach out via the blog!
Shankar's Blog 