ADHD, AI, and the Era of Infinite Possibility

Entering the AI Era

We’ve entered a new chapter in technology—the transition from the mobile era into the AI era. This moment may prove to be larger than the rise of the internet or the personal computer. While we can’t forget that AI builds upon those waves of progress, its scope is different: it touches knowledge, creativity, productivity, and even decision-making in ways that feel more immediate and expansive.

This era brings tremendous upside, but also real complexity. AI lowers barriers to access and creativity, but at the same time raises questions around energy usage, environmental costs, data resources, and the flood of false or misleading information. If used responsibly, AI has the power to propel humanity forward, but that forward motion isn’t guaranteed—it depends on how thoughtfully we navigate it.

Tooling and the Rise of “Vibe Coding”

One of the clearest shifts AI brings is in the world of creation. With “vibe coding” emerging, we are turnning ideas into working tools and apps with minimal technical friction. Platforms like Cursor, GitHub Copilot, and Replit allow anyone, regardless of their coding background to build with ease.

• If you have no software experience, these tools open the door to creation.

• If you do have experience, they dramatically accelerate your process, supercharging experimentation and iteration.

In practice, this means the gap between thinking of an idea and testing it in the real world has collapsed. The bottleneck is no longer technical skill, but imagination and willingness to explore.

ADHD and Exploring with AI

For someone living with ADHD, like me, this era is both energizing and challenging. My mind thrives on novelty and deep focus, but it also struggles with settling on one path.

Since AI tools became part of my workflow, I’ve explored project after project:

• a design system I thought could scale across apps,
• a file management app that felt like it could solve my own chaos,
• a finance app that might help others track money more clearly.

Each time I dive in, it feels exciting and possible. But then I pull back and ask: Am I wasting time? Am I just chasing the next shiny thing? Where is all this going?

That tension is real. With ADHD, I can easily go all over the place, bouncing from one vision to the next. And yet, I’ve come to see that exploration isn’t wasted effort—it’s part of how I work. AI just amplifies that process, lowering the cost of trying something new, validating it quickly, and moving on if it doesn’t fit.

The bigger challenge for me is focus. How do I channel all this curiosity without scattering my energy so thin that nothing lands? That’s a question I’m still working through—and maybe one a lot of us will face in this era of infinite possibility.

Exploring Ideas in the AI Era

AI has made exploration easier than ever. Whether you’re testing a business concept, building a side project, or improving productivity, you can now do it faster and with fewer resources.

• For entrepreneurs: AI enables rapid prototyping and market testing without massive upfront investment.

• For individuals and teams: AI can help optimize workflows, reduce busywork, and unlock more time for creative thinking.

But exploration comes with a cost. Personally, I’ve noticed how quickly I can burn through API tokens while experimenting—sometimes without much to show for it. In the back of my mind, I also carry a concern about the environmental impact of this constant usage. Training and running large AI models requires enormous amounts of energy. When I spin up idea after idea, I have to pause and ask: Is this worth the time, the energy, and the footprint it leaves behind?

Exploration is powerful, but it works best when paired with intention. Reflection questions like “What problem am I really solving?” or “Does this experiment move me closer to something meaningful?” help me sort play from progress.

Risks and Considerations while using AI

As with any technological wave, AI comes with risks that shouldn’t be ignored:

• Environmental costs: Training and running large models consume vast energy and resources.
• Information quality: AI can generate and amplify false or misleading information at scale.
• Overreliance: Easy access to AI may reduce critical thinking or make us dependent on tools we don’t fully understand.
• Ethical and societal impact: From job disruption to bias baked into algorithms, AI reflects human flaws as much as it amplifies human strengths.

The balance is to engage with AI consciously: use it to accelerate imagination and creation, but remain critical of its costs and consequences.

Closing Reflection

AI may be the biggest technological wave of our lifetimes. It rewards exploration, curiosity, and iteration—the very cycles that define how I experience ADHD. While it sometimes feels chaotic to bounce between projects, I see that same energy mirrored in this new era of technology: rapid experimentation, quick pivots, and the search for what’s worth keeping.

The future isn’t about having it all figured out from the start. It’s about testing, learning, and creating responsibly. ADHD may make the journey nonlinear, but in the AI era, nonlinear paths might be the most natural—and the most powerful—way forward.