The Secret Power Behind AI That No-One’s Talking About

For as long as I’ve worked in artificial intelligence, it’s never been the circuitry that’s held my attention — it’s the conversation. That curious dance between human intention and machine interpretation has always fascinated me far more than the hardware humming beneath it.

Even before “prompt engineering” became the buzzword it is today, I found myself circling the same, essential question: how do we shape our thoughts so that intelligent systems genuinely grasp what we’re asking of them?

That question has followed me for years — through research, writing, speaking, consulting and, admittedly, more than a few late-night philosophical spirals. It’s also what ultimately led me to coin the term Sapient-Computational Intelligence (SCI): a way of looking at AI that, I hope, helps us think about not just what these systems do, but what they may one day become.

Thinking Beyond the Buzzwords

Prompt engineering may sound wonderfully complex and very of-the-moment, but at its core it’s disarmingly simple:

AI responds differently depending on how we communicate with it.

It’s something I’ve been talking about for years — long before chatbots found their way into households and “LLM” slipped quietly into boardroom slides. My work has always been rooted in psychology, behaviour and the way humans connect through language. Whether I was writing about social media, digital culture, or emerging immersive tech, one theme kept resurfacing: the words we choose shape the outcomes we get.

So when the world suddenly began discussing “prompts” as if they were a brand-new discovery, I had one of those quiet, satisfied moments of thinking: Yes… we’ve been heading in this direction for quite some time.

Where SCI Comes In

A few years ago, while researching and co-writing Playing God With Artificial Intelligence, I found myself wrestling with something that went beyond well-crafted prompts or neat conversational strategies.

I wanted to push past the mechanics and explore what happens after we perfect the prompt — when machines shift from merely responding to instructions to actually understanding them.

That’s when I introduced Sapient-Computational Intelligence.

For me, SCI represents a hypothetical evolution in machine intelligence — not human sapience, but a computational version capable of:

• grasping nuance,

• applying learned knowledge,

• interpreting intent,

• and acting with contextual awareness.

Nothing mystical. Nothing sci-fi. Simply intelligence that behaves as though it genuinely understands the meaning behind the words.

SCI isn’t a prediction so much as a philosophical framework — a way of asking better questions about the systems we’re designing. A reminder that AI is shaped just as much by our language as by our code.

The Human Side of a Machine Conversation

This is why prompt engineering matters so much.

When we interact with modern LLMs, we’re not merely issuing commands. We’re shaping a relationship — a delicate meeting point between human language and machine logic. A clumsy prompt can generate muddled results; a thoughtful one can unlock clarity, creativity and, occasionally, genuine insight.

If SCI is the long-term horizon, prompt engineering is the path that leads us there. Each conversation teaches the system something new — and teaches us something about how it interprets tone, context, emphasis and emotion.

It’s in these everyday exchanges that the next era of AI literacy is quietly forming.

Why Philosophy Matters More Than Code

In my work, I keep returning to one truth:

AI is only ever as ethical, helpful and safe as the philosophy guiding it.

This is why I talk so often about intention, clarity and conscience. The way we instruct machines becomes the way they interpret the world around them. Whatever ethical scaffolding exists is the one we put there.

SCI, in many ways, is my attempt to humanise this entire conversation — to move us beyond technical trickery and into deeper reflection about what AI should do, not simply what it can do. And how the language we use shapes that distinction.

A Future Built on Better Questions

We’re living through an extraordinary moment. It’s the first time in history that so many of us have daily conversations with non-human intelligences. Some people are enthralled. Some are unnerved. Others are already rolling their eyes. But wherever we sit on that spectrum, one simple truth remains:

Our words matter.

• Every prompt is a choice.

• Every question carries weight.

• Every exchange nudges both us — and the technology — towards whatever SCI may one day become.

If we want AI that reflects our values, understands our needs and amplifies rather than distorts our creativity, we need to begin with better language. More honest. More precise. More thoughtful.

That’s not engineering. That’s humanity!

And it’s why, after all these years, I still believe the true power of AI lies not within the machine itself — but in the conversation we choose to have with it.