The Tehsil offices in Punjab do not move fast.
Nothing is simple, everything takes time, and, of course, palms must be oiled. The professional working with us was doing what professionals in such situations often do: explaining to us why things were complicated, why delays were inevitable, why this was just the way the system worked.
I followed the process. I paid what I was asked to pay. I waited as long as I was told to wait.
And when everything was supposedly in order, the key document – the one that mattered – came back with errors.
The actual property registry? Well, that was … Correct.
The digitized record? That was Wrong.
A clerical mistake, they said. A minor error, but one that would require more paperwork, more signatures, more waiting, and more this is how things are done here.
I could have gone back to the professionals. I could have resigned myself to another round of calls, visits, and knowing the right people.
But this time, I went the ChatGPT way.
I fed it everything – land laws, Tehsil office procedures, government regulations.
I told it:
“Analyze this. Tell me what’s relevant. Show me what they don’t want me to see.”
Then I added my case – documents, details, my experience, and the lawyer’s arguments.
I prompted:
“Cross-check everything. Identify the gaps, the contradictions, the pressure points.”
Then I got specific.
“You’re an expert in Indian property law, specifically as you would see it being applied in Punjab. You know exactly how to get things unstuck. Draft me a letter that gets results.”
And for the final touch – authority.
“Rewrite it like a senior government official, who has been advised about this issue, who is not happy about what he has discovered, and now demands to know why this hasn’t been fixed yet.”
I copied.
Pasted.
Sent it.
And within a few days, the tone changed. Calls that weren’t being returned suddenly were. The same officials who had been dismissive were now explaining things – atleast trying their best. The usual excuses – these things take time, we’ll look into it, check back later – had been replaced with updates and action, slow still but consistent. The problem wasn’t fixed yet, but the game had shifted.
This wasn’t about shortcuts. It wasn’t about bending the system. It was about understanding it well enough to make it function the way it was supposed to function. The delays, the extra steps, the friction – those weren’t legal requirements. They were just habits, normalized inefficiencies that continued because most people accepted them.
Some people use ChatGPT to draft presentations.
I used it to make the Tehsil office stop wasting my time.
The power of AI, when used well, isn’t in doing the work for you. It’s in giving you the knowledge, the leverage, and the language to make sure the work gets done. Whether it’s a corporation trying to overcharge you or a bureaucracy dragging its feet, the real advantage isn’t just knowing what’s right or fair – it’s knowing how to make the system move.
This is what democratization of knowledge and access to information provides all of us as an opportunity.
I will be honest. I did feel, for a fleeting moment, like I had leaned on a tool that gave me an unfair advantage … like I had used AI to challenge a system that is widely reviled but silently accepted. A flawed but entrenched system.
But then I remembered …
I was the system.