A few weeks back, when ChatGPT rolled out update 5, I was both excited and frustrated in equal measure.
Excited, because I couldn’t wait to test its shiny new features.

Frustrated, because mid-project, it lost (temporarily, thank goodness) a chunk of important work and started spitting out dreadful responses.

It was one of those moments that makes you sigh, shut the laptop, and retreat back to pen and paper. Which is good for the brain 😉

But that wasn’t the real test.

Later, in a high-level AI group I’m part of, I replied quickly to a comment about the glitch, only for someone to fire back a sarcastic response:

“Anyone having issues clearly doesn’t know how to use AI properly… probably the same people who can’t join a Zoom call.”

Now this got my bristles up. I am very experienced with AI, we teach it inside our business, and we even ran one of the first UK virtual events showing home entrepreneurs how to use it.

I still get emails today from people saying how life-changing that was.

But I didn’t spell all that out (I didn’t want to sound too arrogant ;-)).

I simply replied politely, saying that yes, I’d had issues, but I was confident they’d be resolved soon and that I was familiar with AI.

But instead of softening, she doubled down – dismissive, rude, unwilling to let it drop.

And that’s when I realised something.

I didn’t need to defend myself.

The people who mattered in that group already knew my experience.

If I kept responding, I’d just be wasting my energy on someone who didn’t actually want a conversation, just a sparring match.

So I closed the tab. Didn’t go back. Didn’t say another word.

And what happened?

Nothing.

I saved myself hours of back-and-forth, a knot in my stomach, and the distraction of a stranger’s bad mood.

So why am I telling you this?

Because in business (and life) you’ll face these moments too.

• A rude comment online.
• A competitor making digs.
• A student pushing back in a way that doesn’t feel respectful.

And yes, your instinct might be to fight, to prove yourself, to not let it slide.

But sometimes the real win is knowing which battles are worth fighting.

Because not every slight deserves your energy. And often, silence is the sharpest response of all.

I hope that helps next time a keyboard warrior rubs you up the wrong way!