How specialized knowledge transforms artificial intelligence into a creative and precise ally, capable of delivering deep, rigorous, and culturally relevant answers.
In an environment where artificial intelligence is permeating multiple disciplines, an essential question arises:
How does the knowledge of the inquirer impact the effectiveness of the search?
It seems to be decisive: the results that AI delivers can be basic or sophisticated, depending precisely on the human capital that interacts with it.
Let’s take an example. Suppose a visual arts teacher sends their students to research the Italian Renaissance and asks them to illustrate it with Primavera by Botticelli. Middle school students will approach the subject and ask, without prior knowledge:
“What is Botticelli’s Primavera?”
AI will offer an answer that talks about the author, the date the work was painted. It will also describe, without too much detail, which figures appear there and—if lucky—add some allegorical interpretations of its figures, along the lines of: Venus represents Beauty, Cupid the whim of sensual love, etc. In the end, it might say: “the whole painting is a celebration of the rebirth of nature and the Renaissance ideal of beauty.”
But if the person asking were a scholar of art history, what would their question look like?
“Dear AI assistant, pretend you are an expert in Renaissance art. Analyze in detail each figure in the painting and explain the symbolism used by Botticelli. Consider the mythological sources, the concepts in light of the Neoplatonic ideas common in 15th-century Florence, without forgetting the role of the Medici as patrons.”
The AI assistant would respond as follows:
Botticelli’s Primavera, executed between the late 1470s and early 1480s, is a complex Renaissance allegory that fuses mythology, Neoplatonic ideology, and Florentine political-family context.
Mythology and symbolism: On the right, Zephyr abducts Chloris, who transforms into Flora, goddess of spring, with flowers sprouting from her mouth. At the center, Venus presides over the garden under a halo formed by foliage—a possible allusion to images of the enthroned Virgin Mary—while Cupid shoots toward one of the Graces. On the left, Mercury disperses clouds with his caduceus, alluding to reason clearing away passion.
Neoplatonism: Venus symbolizes spiritual love (Aphrodite Urania), capable of elevating the soul to the divine; the Graces embody beauty and pleasure, while Mercury represents reason, enabling this mystical ascent. This is the circulation of love from the material toward the celestial—an ideal promoted by the Florentine Platonic Academy led by Marsilio Ficino at the Medici court.
Florentine context and the Medici: The orange grove and laurel in the background refer to the Medici (oranges appear on their coat of arms), and even the flame-patterned clothing worn by Venus and Mercury may be a visual play on “Lorenzo” (Saint Lawrence, the clan’s baptismal symbol). The work was likely commissioned to celebrate the marriage of Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de’ Medici, making it a wedding gift laden with political and familial significance.
The painting proposes a vision of Florence as an earthly paradise: a “garden of the Hesperides” where classical harmony is reborn, sustained by humanism and Neoplatonic philosophy, in a historical context where the Medici acted as patrons of art and culture.
In short, the answer would present Primavera as a visual symphony of mythology, Neoplatonic philosophy, political propaganda, and the Florentine humanist ideal. Botticelli achieves a symbolic ensemble where every element—from Chloris’s transformation into Flora to Venus’s gesture—contributes to a unified narrative about love and spiritual redemption in a specific Renaissance context.
This example illustrates why specialized knowledge is the true driving force that enriches interaction with AI systems. Not only because it prompts a much more specific inquiry into the topic, with richer guidance, but because every time someone asks like a specialist, AI collects the data, stores what emerges from the expert’s question, and preserves those fruits of specificity.
When human experience shapes the inquiry, AI stops delivering flat answers and becomes a creative ally, capable of offering critical analysis, historical rigor, and cultural sensitivity.
In fields as varied as academic research, journalism, data science, or aesthetic design, this synergy produces more coherent and relevant results. Specialization allows for more precise questions, better information prioritization, recognition of nuances, and detection of errors or biases—a capacity that the generic user rarely possesses.
This not only improves the quality of the answers but also increases user trust in the system. Experts act with judgment and verification, while those lacking training may accept imprecise hypotheses without questioning them.
In other words, without expert guidance, even the most powerful technology loses purpose and precision.
Conclusion
The example of the art historian highlights a fundamental truth: human specialization amplifies the potential of artificial intelligence.
“The future doesn’t belong to those who know the most, but to those who know how to ask the best questions.”
This phrase was not spoken by an expert in pictorial tradition but by the CEO of N5, a software company, whose experience—from a very different field—confirms the same premise. The truth of this idea seems to go far beyond art history and is confirmed both in niches of expertise and at the peaks of cutting-edge technology.
Julián Colombo’s phrase clearly and powerfully conveys the idea that the true value of the human being in the future will lie in their ability to formulate intelligent questions, enriched with knowledge and experience.
Far from replacing the expert, AI comes to partner with them as a deep and effective tool. This alliance is what enables—and will continue to enable—art, science, journalism, and finance to advance with greater depth, creativity, and reliability.
