On November 13th, Puzl CowOrKing Budapest hosted another edition of Ecosystem Connect, and this time we tackled a topic on everyone's mind: artificial intelligence and its role in community building. But instead of the usual tech hype and buzzwords, we got something refreshingly different: honest, grounded conversation about what's actually happening when we integrate AI into how we connect and collaborate as human beings.

The Panel: Real Experience, Real Talk

The main question of the evening was ‘What role will AI play in the future of community building, and how will it influence the long-term development of our ecosystem?’

The event opened with a panel discussion featuring four voices who each engage with AI from very different angles:

Kószó Kamill co-founded AI Budapest, the city's largest AI community. AI Budapest also runs the highly popular High Agency AI builder workshops. He's deep in the trenches helping companies actually integrate these technologies, navigating cultural resistance and finding what really works.

Lilla Ronga runs The Bright Academy, focusing on EdTech and AI education. She's thinking hard about how we prepare people - especially in education - to use AI consciously and effectively.

Richard Bavlsík from Innomaker Partners works with startups on their GTM, marketing and positioning strategy. He calls himself an "AI realist," and his no-nonsense perspective on AI's limitations was one of the evening's highlights.

Máté Milovits, solution designer, founder of ThinkThings, moderated the discussion and brought research-backed insights about what happens to our brains when we lean too heavily on AI.

Everyone's Using AI, But Where Are the Results?

A quick poll of the room confirmed what we suspected: almost everyone uses AI tools daily now. It's become as routine as checking emails. But here's the interesting part - as Kamill pointed out that despite all this individual adoption, we're not seeing the massive productivity gains in the actual economic data. Something's not adding up yet. And it is most probably that organizations are far from adopting AI structurally and strategically.

It's Not Magic, It's Statistics

One of Richard's key points really landed hard: people need to understand that AI isn't magic. Large language models are sophisticated prediction machines that guess the next word based on patterns. They hallucinate. They have biases. They're incredibly useful, but they're not thinking. And definitely not feeling or empathetic towards the human condition.

He shared some examples that got people nodding heavily:

“The CEO who spends five minutes with ChatGPT a day, gets validation for half-baked ideas, then fires 30% of the team and declares the company "AI-first"? This is not innovation. It's abdication disguised as transformation.”

And those people who treat AI like it's their therapist or best friend? Richard was blunt: it's a machine. A useful one, but it doesn't understand you or care about you. It calculates.

His bottom line: don't let AI make real business decisions. Not when money or reputation is on the line. Not when the system can hallucinate or be manipulated. Use it as a tool, not a decision-maker.

The Education Angle: Slow Down and Do It Right

Lilla brought an important perspective from the education world. She's still figuring out how AI will change her company's work, but she's certain about one thing: in education, we need to be deliberate. That means training programs, structured learning, and helping people understand what they're actually using.

Her message? Don't just throw AI at problems. Prepare people to use it thoughtfully.

The Dark Side and the Bright Side

Kamill didn't sugarcoat the risks. Yes, AI can streamline administrative tasks and operational processes beautifully. But it can also be used in ways that isolate people rather than connect them -he mentioned AI "girlfriends" as an example of technology replacing human connection instead of enhancing it.

His work with AI Budapest is all about finding genuine use cases that create real efficiency. But he's realistic about the challenges: organizations resist change, the explosive growth we've seen might be slowing down, and keeping up with the technology requires constant attention.

Your Brain on AI: Use It or Lose It

Perhaps the most thought-provoking moment came when Máté shared research from MIT. After just six months of intensive AI use, people show measurable declines in routine cognitive processes. Take away the AI tools suddenly, and tasks that used to be easy become difficult for humans.

Why? Our brains are efficient. If we outsource thinking to AI, our brains literally shut down those functions to save energy. We're not just getting rusty; we're in fact losing capacity.

It's a reminder that how we use these tools matters as much as whether we use them.

Looking Ahead: Practical Optimism

When the panel looked five years into the future, they painted a picture that was realistic but hopeful. AI-supported communities will probably see better operational efficiency, new ways to connect across distances, and tools that help community builders understand their members more deeply.

The challenges will be real too: digital divides could grow, some communities might have access to cutting-edge tools while others get left behind, and we'll need to work hard to keep human connection at the center.

But the panel agreed on something important: if we approach AI with intention, understand its limitations, and keep asking the right questions, we can build something better. The key is staying conscious about how we deploy these tools and why.

Why These Conversations Matter

This is exactly what Ecosystem Connect is for. These topics are too important for surface-level discussion. They need space for honesty, disagreement, depth, and thinking things through together.

After the panel, the evening opened up into guided networking, where ideas turned into connections and connections into collaborative thinking. Because the future of community building isn't just about the tools we use - it's about how we come together to figure out what's worth building in the first place.

Puzl CowOrKing Budapest created Ecosystem Connect as an invitation-only space not to be exclusive, but to be intentional. It's for community builders, innovators, and ecosystem shapers who want to move beyond the hype and do the harder, more interesting work of building sustainable and strong communities in an age of rapid change.

The conversations happening in these rooms are shaping how we'll use AI, what we'll build with it, and whether our communities will become more genuinely connected or just more automated. Based on the energy in the room that evening, there's real appetite for getting this right.

And that’s very freakin' exciting. We're figuring problems out together, asking tough questions, and keep building communities on shared values and shared look into the future. If that sounds like the kind of conversation you want to be part of, stay connected with us at Puzl CowOrKing Budapest. The next Ecosystem Connect is already brewing, and we're just getting started.